Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Sold by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC cut its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 25.3% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,181 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 401 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,813,114,000 after acquiring an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $983,161,000 after acquiring an additional 138,678 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $947,006,000 after acquiring an additional 29,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,128,102 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $740,891,000 after purchasing an additional 189,076 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $281.86 per share, with a total value of $732,836.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,973,020. This represents a 59.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $283.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $63.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $285.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $266.31. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.01). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 24.22%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $307.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.70.

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.