Little House Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 2,375 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Little House Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,375 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.5% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,772 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $445,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $54,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth approximately $211,000. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC traded down $3.30 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $249.07. 506,633 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,959. The firm has a market cap of $56.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.17%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen lifted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.17.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was 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 owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.