Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Purchased by Garner Asset Management Corp

Garner Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,168 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value 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. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought 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 $2,550,000. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.8 %

NSC stock opened at $268.95 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $253.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.71 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.