Sigma Planning Corp Has $347,000 Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,469 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,272 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 99,438 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $23,505,000 after acquiring an additional 7,547 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,049 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,430,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares during the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $201,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $72,000. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 9,342 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One research 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE NSC opened at $239.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $251.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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 company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.