Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC is Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s 3rd Largest Position

Ausbil Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 22.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,329 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 7,435 shares during the quarter. Norfolk Southern accounts for 4.3% of Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $7,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Place Capital Corp increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 13,000.0% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,668 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 3,640 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.8% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 121,351 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $36,455,000 after acquiring an additional 29,264 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 256,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $77,055,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $24,033,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,165,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $354.00 to $297.00 in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $299.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC opened at $282.69 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market cap of $63.48 billion, a PE ratio of 22.17, a P/E/G ratio of 5.10 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.41. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $319.94.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.35%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.