Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,698 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 157 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $794,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders bought 4,700 shares of company stock worth $1,105,065. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays reduced their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of 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 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $250.08 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $236.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

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.