Acadian Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,814 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4,336.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 4,814 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $556,797,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in 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. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after buying an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after buying an additional 429,288 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,655. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE NSC opened at $247.12 on Tuesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.83 billion, a PE ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $241.02 and its 200 day moving average is $237.97.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

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

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.