Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,959 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $1,525,699,000 after purchasing an additional 124,362 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.2% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $956,285,000 after purchasing an additional 347,852 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $246.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $241.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,887,655. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,887,655. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $247.48 per share, with a total value of $494,960.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $742,440. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.