Howard Financial Services LTD. Has $420,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,791 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $420,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,011,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.6% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 53,474 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $11,480,000 after acquiring an additional 2,845 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 15.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 16,961 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,639,000 after acquiring an additional 2,246 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 267.6% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,110 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 3,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $455,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $245.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $251.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.19. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

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.