Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Stake Trimmed by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC lowered its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,867 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 389 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,318,716,000 after buying an additional 196,249 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,133,828,000 after acquiring an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $945,385,000 after acquiring an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after acquiring an additional 103,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after purchasing an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the 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 owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $234.71 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $246.14 and its 200-day moving average is $250.14. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $276.95.

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.