Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Reduces Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 55.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 6,200 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,561,273 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,263,069,000 after buying an additional 239,914 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,859,121 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,779,609,000 after buying an additional 192,567 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,822,075 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,228,064,000 after acquiring an additional 36,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,182,921 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,070,702,000 after acquiring an additional 184,586 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.5% during the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,289,431 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $841,994,000 after acquiring an additional 201,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $307.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $293.00 target price on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, October 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $303.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.40.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $291.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $65.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $278.71. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 24.22% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.25 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.19%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Richard H. Anderson bought 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $281.86 per share, for a total transaction of $732,836.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,973,020. This represents a 59.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $282.97 per share, with a total value of $466,900.50. Following the purchase, the director owned 12,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,395,640. This represents a 15.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have bought 4,454 shares of company stock worth $1,259,874. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.