Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 890 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Kapstone Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 890 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bfsg LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.8% during the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 33,072 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,513,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.0% during the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,108 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $809,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $273,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 127,150 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $25,040,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the period. Finally, Baxter Bros Inc. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.0% during the third quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 27,912 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,497,000 after buying an additional 1,071 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $0.89 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $239.94. 1,461,075 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 977,733. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 0.68. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $251.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.71.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

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.