Camden National Bank Purchases New Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Camden National Bank acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,130 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $281,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 197.0% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,470 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,904,000 after acquiring an additional 4,955 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth about $76,000. BOKF NA grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 46.5% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 39,983 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $10,076,000 after purchasing an additional 12,692 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,525,699,000 after purchasing an additional 124,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carroll Investors Inc purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth about $529,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.8 %

NSC stock opened at $268.95 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $253.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.85. The stock has a market cap of $60.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $275.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

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.