Colonial Trust Advisors Sells 2,251 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Colonial Trust Advisors cut its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,302 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 2,251 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,394,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $354.00 to $297.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $347.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $304.47.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NSC stock opened at $315.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $70.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.68 and a beta of 1.34. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $319.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.86.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 23.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.35%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director William Jr. Clyburn bought 204 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $294.79 per share, with a total value of $60,137.16. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 405 shares in the company, valued at $119,389.95. This represents a 101.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.