Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Decreases Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,585 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $10,699,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,579 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $222,025,000 after buying an additional 889,925 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after buying an additional 881,415 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,830,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.6 %

Norfolk Southern stock traded up $3.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $239.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 414,664 shares, compared to its average volume of 803,172. The company has a market capitalization of $54.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $245.24. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $206.71 and a 12 month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.