Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC)

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 8,606 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 305% compared to the typical volume of 2,127 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.74.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of NSC stock traded down $7.83 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $237.20. 781,237 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,258,952. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $58.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $252.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.09.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.93 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 67.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 5,352 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,054,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at about $68,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 93.8% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $691,000 after purchasing an additional 1,699 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 9,038 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,780,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Aurora Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 3,830 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.