Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 4,113 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,857 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,113 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $19,291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE NSC opened at $253.77 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $239.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 4,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,065. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.