889 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Purchased by Associated Banc Corp

Associated Banc Corp bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 889 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after buying an additional 264,031 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after purchasing an additional 26,686 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,112,261 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $469,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $556,797,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $261.78.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock traded down $3.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $227.31. 67,223 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,364,240. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $244.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.35 billion, a PE ratio of 37.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.32 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.66 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.38%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.