Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by River Street Advisors LLC

River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,681 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 65.6% in the 3rd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 166,520 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $32,793,000 after acquiring an additional 65,966 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 148.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 17,001 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,348,000 after buying an additional 10,151 shares in the last quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $357,000 after buying an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 9,417 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,855,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 450.3% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 25,400 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,002,000 after buying an additional 20,784 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NSC. Barclays reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.89.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $4.79 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $214.69. 1,584,755 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,129,521. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $227.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.32 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $221.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,650.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,420,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.