TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 964 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after buying an additional 264,031 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $605,331,000 after buying an additional 26,686 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $469,764,000 after buying an additional 73,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, London Co. of Virginia boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $389,305,000 after buying an additional 577,171 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on NSC. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded down $6.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $229.41. The company had a trading volume of 1,237,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,322,315. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $249.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.98. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $51.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.