Sanctuary Advisors LLC Takes $9.94 Million Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 46,285 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $9,937,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in 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. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on NSC. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $244.88 on Friday. 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 is $246.79 and its 200-day moving average is $237.24. The company has a market cap of $55.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio 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.