Little House Capital LLC Invests $590,000 in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,375 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC traded down $3.30 on Monday, reaching $249.07. 506,633 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,248,959. The firm has a market cap of $56.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $247.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.66. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 86.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on NSC shares. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.17.

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.