Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Acquires 1,047 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,037 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after acquiring an additional 124,362 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after acquiring an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $264.76 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $204.90 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $252.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $59.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value 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 $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.