Yaupon Capital Management LP Increases Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,902 shares of the railroad operator's stock after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the quarter. Norfolk Southern makes up approximately 1.2% of Yaupon Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Yaupon Capital Management LP owned about 0.05% of Norfolk Southern worth $27,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. UBS Group dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $266.10.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC traded up $4.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $226.70. 1,798,664 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,257,670. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $55.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $201.63 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The stock's 50-day moving average is $231.08 and its 200-day moving average is $245.08.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 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 Tuesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 46.71%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.