TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,007 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $3,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $63,417,000 after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,796,000. Grandview Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $918,000. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 5,678 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Stephens boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $268.79.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $220.15 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $232.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $245.36. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The company has a market capitalization of $54.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

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 bought 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 approximately $646,271.82. The trade was a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.