M&T Bank Corp Has $41.78 Million Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

M&T Bank Corp lowered its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 139,069 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 4,758 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $41,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth $613,255,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 550.6% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 983,366 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $251,712,000 after purchasing an additional 832,210 shares in the last quarter. TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at about $181,995,000. Alpine Associates Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at about $150,989,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 93.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 952,544 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $286,154,000 after purchasing an additional 459,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on NSC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $354.00 to $297.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. UBS Group lowered Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $308.95.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:NSC opened at $289.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $319.94. The company has a market cap of $64.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 5.26 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $300.74 and a 200-day moving average of $291.99.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 23.59%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 42.35%.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.