Steph & Co. Sells 67 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Steph & Co. decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 775 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 67 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Operose Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. TheStreet upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $3.57 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $239.34. 1,011,058 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,280,049. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $58.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.30. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $253.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.32.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.33%.

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.