Summit Trail Advisors LLC Purchases 296 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 23.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,579 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Summit Trail Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the third 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. Boston Partners grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,373,909 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $341,416,000 after purchasing an additional 19,394 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $276.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.93, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $206.71 and a 52-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.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted 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. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction 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 represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.