Wesbanco Bank Inc. Reduces Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,535 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 246 shares during the quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,618,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 7,243 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,712,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 66,233 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $15,621,000 after acquiring an additional 8,026 shares during the period. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $573,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $221.00 per share, with a total value of $1,248,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The purchase 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $221.00 per share, with a total value of $1,248,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,420,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired 10,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,353,715 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $242.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.97, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.43.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.