Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 1,470 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,479 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,470 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,841,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.2% during the first quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 852 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.0% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 7,581 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,640 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,464,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE NSC opened at $241.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.80. The stock has a market cap of $59.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the prior year, the business posted $3.42 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.74.

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.