MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 925 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded down $5.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $230.47. 1,605,619 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,327,833. The firm has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $249.71 and its 200 day moving average is $233.98. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.