Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC Makes New $1.04 Million Investment in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,449 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $1,044,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after buying an additional 196,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,133,828,000 after acquiring an additional 62,186 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after acquiring an additional 103,281 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.6 %

NSC opened at $238.80 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.71 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a market capitalization of $54.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $252.80 and a 200-day moving average of $246.23.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

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.