Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Purchased by BIP Wealth LLC

BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 74.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,342 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $582,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Bank of America increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $259.71 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $253.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.27. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm has a market cap of $58.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.48 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 (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

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

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.