Capital Square LLC Buys 47 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Capital Square LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,326 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $556,797,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 600.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after purchasing an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $106,661,000 after buying an additional 429,288 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 700 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 4,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,065 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $255.98. 104,664 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,263,103. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

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.