Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Decreases Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 9.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,819 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,856 shares during the quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 600.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after purchasing an additional 875,473 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,655. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction 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 approximately $371,077.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $249.29 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $56.32 billion, a PE ratio of 40.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $242.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.97. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

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.