Stephens Inc. AR Acquires 59 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Stephens Inc. AR boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,340 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth $25,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. The trade was a 32.29 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $256.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $246.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

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.