Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Holdings Lowered by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 393,268 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 5,569 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.17% of Norfolk Southern worth $97,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of NSC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in 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 valued at $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after buying an additional 3,280,579 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Susquehanna upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $259.71 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.27. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $58.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors 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 yield of 2.08%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

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.