London Co. of Virginia Lowers Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

London Co. of Virginia lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,634,041 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 89,757 shares during the period. Norfolk Southern makes up about 2.1% of London Co. of Virginia’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. London Co. of Virginia’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $383,509,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after acquiring an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after acquiring an additional 113,648 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after acquiring an additional 580,293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $931,426,000 after acquiring an additional 75,865 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $223.69 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $201.63 and a 52-week high of $277.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a fifty day moving average of $225.86 and a 200-day moving average of $242.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.89%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.