Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Purchased by Oak Thistle LLC

Oak Thistle LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 37.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,144 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 582 shares during the quarter. Oak Thistle LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.8% during the second quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the second quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 7,716 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.4% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 381 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.0% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,477 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders purchased 4,700 shares of company stock worth $1,105,065 over the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $256.93 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $237.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.07. The stock has a market cap of $58.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

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.