Advisors Asset Management Inc. Buys 6,086 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 20,124 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,086 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $5,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 124,362 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $813,554,000 after purchasing an additional 37,386 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target 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. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $264.29 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $253.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $59.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.70%.

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.