Tradewinds Capital Management LLC Takes $510,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Tradewinds Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of $219.25 per share, for a total transaction of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Claude Mongeau acquired 5,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $221.00 per share, with a total value of $1,248,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 20,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,420,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.89.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $216.03. 197,254 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,317,533. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.80 billion, a PE ratio of 35.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $225.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.75. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.