Moment Partners LLC Purchases New Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Moment Partners LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,540 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $361,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. FMR LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,532,000 after purchasing an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,830,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after buying an additional 580,293 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $122,798,000. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,302,635 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $308,607,000 after buying an additional 469,558 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.63.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $235.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $53.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $206.71 and a 52-week high of $277.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company’s 50 day moving average is $245.81 and its 200 day moving average is $249.42.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. 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 Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.