Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 5,348 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 5,348 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,255,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,073,933 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $721,452,000 after acquiring an additional 371,589 shares during the last quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $962,000. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 30.4% during the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 36,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,567,000 after purchasing an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 34.0% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 466,689 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $109,532,000 after purchasing an additional 118,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 323.9% during the 4th quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 11,921 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,798,000 after buying an additional 9,109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $272.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now 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 this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 4.5 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $210.78 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $248.35. The stock has a market cap of $51.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 46.71%.

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.