Aviance Capital Partners LLC Purchases New Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 796 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 450.3% in the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 25,400 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,002,000 after acquiring an additional 20,784 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 57,277 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $11,280,000 after purchasing an additional 6,159 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,804 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 18.3% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,858 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,154,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 550,611 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $108,444,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.89.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $214.06 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $227.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.01. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The firm has a market cap of $48.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.32 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.