Hendershot Investments Inc. Cuts Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Hendershot Investments Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,533 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State of Tennessee Treasury Department increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 209.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 111,914 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $26,454,000 after purchasing an additional 75,729 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at about $608,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,627,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 96,384 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $22,783,000 after acquiring an additional 6,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,667 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,700 shares of company stock valued at $1,105,065. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on NSC. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $252.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $57.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.70, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $238.32. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.