TCTC Holdings LLC Sells 443 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

TCTC Holdings LLC cut its holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 52.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 407 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 443 shares during the quarter. TCTC Holdings LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 buying an additional 124,362 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after acquiring an additional 37,386 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on NSC. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $271.67 on Friday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $193.15 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $251.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.87. The firm has a market cap of $61.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.30.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 50.70%.

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.