ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Acquires 474 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,859 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 474 shares during the quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $233.62 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $253.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.41. The company has a market cap of $52.85 billion, a PE ratio of 21.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. 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.