Sanders Morris Harris LLC Acquires Shares of 1,230 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,230 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $313,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $264.56.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $224.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,231,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 832,257. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $50.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.