Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Decreases Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 954 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 123 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NSC. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake 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 worth $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $222,025,000 after acquiring an additional 889,925 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 23,037.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 349,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $86,762,000 after buying an additional 347,634 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

NSC stock opened at $275.38 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $62.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.87.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NSC. Barclays upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by 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.