Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Position Boosted by State Street Corp

State Street Corp lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 196,249 shares during the quarter. State Street Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,318,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,138,853 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $283,013,000 after buying an additional 55,694 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 69.3% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 9,843 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 47.5% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 7,457 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,853,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth about $207,830,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $264.11 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.75 billion, a PE ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $258.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $242.46.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.