MONECO Advisors LLC Takes Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

MONECO Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 886 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after buying an additional 875,473 shares during the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% in the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after buying an additional 577,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after buying an additional 429,288 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $221.00 per share, with a total value of $1,248,650.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.56.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $220.90 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.46. The company has a market cap of $49.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business’s revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. 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.