Rockport Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,071 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $556,797,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,296,632 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $306,498,000 after acquiring an additional 38,080 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after acquiring an additional 875,473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 853,694 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $215,464,000 after buying an additional 67,024 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Loop Capital increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.53.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC traded down $3.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $224.28. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 829,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,607. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.67 billion, a PE ratio of 36.72, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $221.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,650.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is 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.