Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 48.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Fmr LLC owned 1.19% of Norfolk Southern worth $671,532,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.5% in 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 during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 381 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the third quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $275.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.71 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

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.