Pullen Investment Management LLC Buys 86 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Pullen Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,394 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $222,025,000 after buying an additional 889,925 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $956,285,000 after buying an additional 347,852 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $247.48 per share, for a total transaction of $494,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $742,440. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 3,700 shares of company stock valued at $921,565 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $251.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $249.22 and a 200-day moving average of $236.88. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $183.76 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $56.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.16.

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.