Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,446 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 4,106 shares during the quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $13,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after purchasing an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,133,828,000 after buying an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $967,340,000 after buying an additional 103,281 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after buying an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $10.55 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $262.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 508,528 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,647. The company has a market cap of $59.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.34. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. On average, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.