Calamos Advisors LLC Trims Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Calamos Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 42,818 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 559 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $10,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boltwood Capital Management increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 2,145 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $507,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC now owns 1,896 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $448,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the third quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 10,454 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,059,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 4,403 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,041,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 5,641 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,333,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on NSC shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. UBS Group upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $241.28 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.98 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 67.33%.

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.