Tower Bridge Advisors Purchases 900 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Tower Bridge Advisors grew its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 12.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,256 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $33,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NSC opened at $261.26 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $205.70 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $59.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.84.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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 bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

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.