805 Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Purchased by LVW Advisors LLC

LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 805 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $241,421,000 after buying an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $389,305,000 after buying an additional 577,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $106,661,000 after buying an additional 429,288 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.89.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NSC opened at $214.69 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.01.

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 company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.32 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.