Coastwise Capital Group LLC Purchases 54 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Coastwise Capital Group LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,264 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $563,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $275.85 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. 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 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.57.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. 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.