Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 6,694 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 593 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $222,025,000 after buying an additional 889,925 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 10.2% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $956,285,000 after buying an additional 347,852 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23,037.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 349,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $86,762,000 after acquiring an additional 347,634 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $261.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.84. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $205.70 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a PE ratio of 24.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern 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.