Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 210 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. reduced its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 16.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,077 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 210 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.2 %

NSC opened at $249.29 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 40.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $242.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.97.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.96%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 700 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.