Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Community Trust & Investment Co. lowered its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,366 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 61 shares during the quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,079,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target 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. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $247.48 per share, with a total value of $494,960.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $742,440. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 4.9 %

NSC stock opened at $260.43 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $248.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.