Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 34,346 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1,248.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,096 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,346 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $8,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $231.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $246.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $52.50 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.71%.

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.