Tredje AP fonden Has $16.44 Million Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Tredje AP fonden lowered its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,049 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 2,197 shares during the quarter. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $16,440,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at $310,000. United Bank lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.4% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 8,875 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,205,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,921 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at $159,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,377 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $591,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. Stephens upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Loop Capital lowered Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $230.91 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $246.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.74. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 46.71%.

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.