Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Position Cut by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,295 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 152 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 3,773 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1,655.2% during the fourth quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 27,399 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $6,431,000 after purchasing an additional 25,838 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 19,942 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,680,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 600.0% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 5,600 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,800 shares during the period. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,065 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.11.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $243.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $206.71 and a 1-year high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.79.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 46.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.