New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Buys Shares of 387 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 387 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $99,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after buying an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $556,797,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,296,632 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $306,498,000 after buying an additional 38,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 600.3% in the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,021,312 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $241,421,000 after buying an additional 875,473 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock traded down $3.22 on Thursday, hitting $246.34. The stock had a trading volume of 959,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,315,190. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $183.09 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market cap of $55.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $224.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.04.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $247.48 per share, with a total value of $494,960.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $742,440. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $247.48 per share, for a total transaction of $494,960.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $742,440. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders bought 9,650 shares of company stock valued at $2,182,110. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $267.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $264.24.

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.