Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Grows Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,537 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.11.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE NSC opened at $249.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $56.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $206.71 and a 12 month high of $277.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $246.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.65.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.