Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Shares Sold by Covington Investment Advisors Inc.

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 19,171 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,790 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $547,575,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 28.7% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 11,137 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,614,000 after acquiring an additional 2,484 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 17,250 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,049,000 after acquiring an additional 3,198 shares in the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $361,000. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $224,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.84.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $235.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $245.58 and a 200 day moving average of $249.32. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

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.