Exchange Traded Concepts LLC Has $112,000 Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 16.3% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 474 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 92 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 5,197 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,220,000 after buying an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,463 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 521.2% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 12,101 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,840,000 after buying an additional 10,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,452 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.71.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC opened at $257.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.60, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $237.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.10. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $201.63 and a twelve month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 27.40%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

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.