Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Purchased by Aberdeen Group plc

Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 455,742 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 8,186 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned approximately 0.20% of Norfolk Southern worth $131,582,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 5,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 2,515 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 75.0% in the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 84 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the third quarter. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,008 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $317.00 to $308.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $317.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.89.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4%

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $288.18 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $201.63 and a twelve month high of $319.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $70.55 billion, a PE ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.23 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $299.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $292.82.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.