Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Purchases 62 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $240,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,679 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,477 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One research 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.24.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 10,350 shares of company stock valued at $2,353,715 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.3 %

NSC traded up $0.76 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $241.53. The stock had a trading volume of 803,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,277,639. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $54.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $228.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

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.