Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV

Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $250.43 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.07. The company has a market capitalization of $56.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $187.75 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.