Burt Wealth Advisors Purchases New Shares in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Burt Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 915 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GSA Capital Partners LLP raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 60.9% during the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,043 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $521,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.9% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 1,153 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 11,713 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,985,000 after acquiring an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.3% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,536 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,176,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 16,103 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after acquiring an additional 345 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC traded up $4.68 on Friday, reaching $275.39. 254,565 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,255,485. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $251.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $237.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.43, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $193.15 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.96%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.16.

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.