Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,500 Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $352,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,319 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,014,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 35,689 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $8,376,000 after buying an additional 5,035 shares in the last quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Gold Investment Management Ltd. now owns 9,106 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.95.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $232.75 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $246.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.52. 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 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.