Keystone Financial Group Inc. Invests $27,000 in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 116 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on NSC. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $251.33 on Friday. 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 $56.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52-week low of $206.71 and a 52-week high of $277.60. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.49.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 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.