Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Boosts Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,525,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,785 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,912,000 after buying an additional 5,777 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 110.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,234 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after buying an additional 4,325 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 114,136 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,979,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,777 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 654 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,387 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 10.9 %

Shares of NSC traded up $24.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $247.22. 2,993,456 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,060,314. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $237.55. The company has a market capitalization of $55.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for 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 19.77%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.18%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on NSC. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.65.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.