River Street Advisors LLC Has $938,000 Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

River Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,681 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $556,797,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after buying an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 600.3% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $241,421,000 after purchasing an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. London Co. of Virginia increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 41.2% during the 3rd quarter. London Co. of Virginia now owns 1,976,871 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $389,305,000 after purchasing an additional 577,171 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 1,956.8% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 451,226 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $106,661,000 after purchasing an additional 429,288 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on NSC. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.89.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.3 %

NYSE NSC traded up $4.79 on Friday, hitting $214.69. 1,584,755 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,129,521. The company has a market cap of $48.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $227.10 and a 200-day moving average of $238.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.52%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $221.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average price of $221.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.