Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $5 Million Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 43.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,124 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,086 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $5,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after buying an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.1 %

NSC opened at $264.29 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $253.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.70%.

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.