Insider Buying: Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Director Buys 1,000 Shares of Stock

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Sameh Fahmy also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, August 1st, Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of Norfolk Southern stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $251.09 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.79. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1-year low of $183.76 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $56.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.43, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.16.

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.