WT Wealth Management Acquires Shares of 850 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

WT Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 850 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Citigroup began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $294.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.17.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 5.5 %

Shares of NSC traded up $13.77 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $261.93. The stock had a trading volume of 1,242,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,252,708. The firm has a market cap of $59.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $248.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.