V Wealth Advisors LLC Takes $205,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Mar 31st, 2023

V Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 831 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,714 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 669,979 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $148,535,000 after purchasing an additional 52,481 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 378,114 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $81,124,000 after purchasing an additional 3,494 shares in the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 36.4% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 9,368 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,964,000 after purchasing an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gallacher Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.98% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $244.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $255.00 in a research note on Monday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $285.00 to $245.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $225.00 to $231.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.83.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $208.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $47.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $226.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.85. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $196.33 and a 1-year high of $291.55.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.41 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 25.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.12 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.65 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This is a boost from Norfolk Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.59%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 38.85%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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Norfolk Southern Corp. is a transportation company, which engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Its services include property leases and sales, wire line or pipeline and fiber optics projects, access property, managing private crossings, promoting businesses with signboards, and natural resource management.