Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by WESCAP Management Group Inc.

WESCAP Management Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,494 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. WESCAP Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $590,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on 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. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $1.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $235.55. 1,072,692 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,327,953. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The company has a market cap of $53.21 billion, a PE ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $249.71 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.59.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.32 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

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.