Vontobel Holding Ltd. Decreases Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 82.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,842 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 94,448 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,690,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after buying an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $869,600,000 after buying an additional 13,513 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after buying an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after buying an additional 3,025,065 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265,666 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $239.34 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $253.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $58.93 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, 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 Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.42 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 67.33%.

Norfolk Southern 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.