B&L Asset Management LLC Buys New Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

B&L Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $395,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at $31,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $275.85 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $256.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $241.50. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The stock has a market cap of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 50.70%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.