Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,234 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 460 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after buying an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $869,600,000 after purchasing an additional 13,513 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $605,331,000 after purchasing an additional 26,686 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $746,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,666 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $241.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a market capitalization of $59.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $252.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.07.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NSC. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.74.

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.