Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 33.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 657 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 325 shares during the period. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $263.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $275.38 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market cap of $62.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $255.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.87. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.70%.

Norfolk Southern 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.