Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Director Sameh Fahmy Acquires 2,000 Shares

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

NSC stock opened at $220.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.57, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.31. 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 one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $232.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $239.46.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 229 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 16,521 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,253,000 after purchasing an additional 4,470 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 21,819 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $2,779,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $3,271,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $277.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.56.

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.