Dover Advisors LLC Sells 90 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Dover Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,362 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 90 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 11,314 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 23,037.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 349,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $86,762,000 after buying an additional 347,634 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,206 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,791,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,696 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,410,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.6 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $247.84 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 46.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating 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 twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.11.

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.