FSA Wealth Management LLC Takes $94,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 378 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $94,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,280,579 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $222,025,000 after buying an additional 889,925 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,532,000 after buying an additional 881,415 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23,037.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 349,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $86,762,000 after acquiring an additional 347,634 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna boosted 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. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One 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 MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $275.85 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.71 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The company has a market capitalization of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $256.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $241.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

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.