Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,903 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Chip Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 7,654 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,809,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $235.55 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $249.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.98. The stock has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.