Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC Sells 3,955 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC lessened its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,900 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 3,955 shares during the period. Waters Parkerson & CO. LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $20,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Richard H. Anderson bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.48 per share, for a total transaction of $494,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $742,440. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $247.48 per share, for a total transaction of $494,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $742,440. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $251.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.07. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The company has a market capitalization of $56.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

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.