Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 73.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,838 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 136,886 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $11,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $212,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 190,945 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $45,137,000 after acquiring an additional 21,532 shares during the period. Gilliland Jeter Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $529,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,304,000 after purchasing an additional 418 shares during the period. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 9,583 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,265,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $230.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.39.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.