Burt Wealth Advisors Takes $227,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Burt Wealth Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 915 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hudson Value Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $211,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $63,417,000 after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Finally, Maia Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.7% in the third quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 1,044 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,550,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $4.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $275.39. 254,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,485. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $193.15 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $251.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $237.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

Norfolk Southern 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.