Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Acquires 1,097 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 34.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,285 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,006,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 255,200 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $63,417,000 after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $33,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at $310,000. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 8,875 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $243.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The stock has a market cap of $55.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $246.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.92.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.95.

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.