Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Holdings Lowered by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,209 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $8,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after purchasing an additional 26,686 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $469,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,001,507 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $394,157,000 after buying an additional 49,224 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $236.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $58.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.12. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.32 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.33%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.