Avanza Fonder AB Buys Shares of 5,378 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,378 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,553,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,668 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 3,640 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 31.8% in the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 121,351 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $36,455,000 after acquiring an additional 29,264 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.5% during the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 256,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $77,055,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $24,033,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $2,165,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $308.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NSC opened at $283.74 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.85. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $319.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.72 billion, a PE ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.04 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 42.35%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.