Short Interest in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Increases By 20.0%

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,760,000 shares, a growth of 20.0% from the June 30th total of 2,300,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their target price on 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 dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.65.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth $556,797,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $241,421,000 after purchasing an additional 875,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after buying an additional 429,288 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock traded up $24.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $247.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,993,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,314. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.61. Norfolk Southern has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $55.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.32.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 14.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

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.