Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,252 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 4,772 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $445,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $54,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,551 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $294.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $266.17.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $252.37 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $247.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $236.66. The stock has a market cap of $57.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a PEG ratio of 2.33 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.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,887,655. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. 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.