Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Buys 547 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,912 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,913,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $64,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 20,479 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,841,000 after acquiring an additional 1,470 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 28,904 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $6,832,000 after acquiring an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. HTLF Bank bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $582,000. Finally, Cutler Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $236,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.24.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 700 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,655. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders acquired 10,350 shares of company stock worth $2,353,715 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NSC traded down $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $240.77. 606,091 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,280,482. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.44. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $54.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.32.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend 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.