River Street Advisors LLC Sells 79 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

River Street Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,697 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased 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 valued at $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $222,025,000 after acquiring an additional 889,925 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the second 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. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $261.26. 1,152,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,256,220. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $205.70 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.78.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,550,000. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

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.