Norges Bank Purchases New Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,333,085 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $547,575,000. Norges Bank owned 1.03% of Norfolk Southern as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NSC. Loop Capital lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.84.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $230.41 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $245.28 and a 200 day moving average of $249.14. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. As a group, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.71%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.