Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Stock Position Increased by Wellington Management Group LLP

Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 64.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,785 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,777 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,065 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $537,007,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,451,000 after buying an additional 1,265,666 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 33.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $627,438,000 after acquiring an additional 638,384 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $251.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $61.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $250.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.12. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $250.00 to $233.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $238.00 to $237.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $248.94.

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.