Norden Group LLC Acquires New Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Norden Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,074 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $2,058,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $241,421,000 after acquiring an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after purchasing an additional 429,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 23,585.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 351,261 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $83,031,000 after acquiring an additional 349,778 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.89.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $216.30 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.32. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.60.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.