Choate Investment Advisors Buys 169 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,992 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.8% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 311,501 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $73,109,000 after buying an additional 25,090 shares during the last quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 12,995 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. Midwest Professional Planners LTD. now owns 8,919 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the period. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth approximately $566,000. Finally, HBK Sorce Advisory LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 4,054 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Stephens boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $232.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.30 and a 200-day moving average of $250.52. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $52.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted 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 net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

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.