Indie Asset Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Indie Asset Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,048 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.16.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’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 sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $250.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $190.01 and a one year high of $263.66. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.06. The company has a market cap of $56.58 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.