Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,296,632 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 38,080 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $306,498,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 40,682 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,012,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 20,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.0% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.1% during the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 7,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,382,000 after buying an additional 1,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.8% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 3,421 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NSC traded down $1.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $230.86. 490,501 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,317,754. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $248.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.41. 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 $52.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

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.