Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by First Financial Bank Trust Division

First Financial Bank Trust Division reduced its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,236 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after acquiring an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after acquiring an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $469,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth $556,797,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Susquehanna cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $270.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.56.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded up $1.10 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $222.00. 165,208 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,304,795. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $183.09 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $50.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $232.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.46.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.32 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.