Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) CEO Alan H. Shaw Sells 51,325 Shares of Stock

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE NSC opened at $248.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.12. The firm has a market cap of $56.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.96, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern Co. has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 209.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 111,914 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,454,000 after acquiring an additional 75,729 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $1,676,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth approximately $13,627,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 96,384 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $22,783,000 after purchasing an additional 6,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broderick Brian C acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter worth approximately $956,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $265.17.

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.