CWA Asset Management Group LLC Takes $310,000 Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,248 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.89.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $267.45 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $252.07 and a 200 day moving average of $238.05. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 52 week low of $195.76 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.02%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Norfolk Southern 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.