TIAA Trust National Association Sells 135 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

TIAA Trust National Association reduced its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,687 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $5,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $5,001,490,000 after buying an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $907,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% during the 1st 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. First Foundation Advisors lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,008 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $257,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wintrust Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 7,648 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $239.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $263.53.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC traded down $2.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $227.95. 1,205,008 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,892. The company has a market cap of $51.50 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.60. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.32 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend 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.