Harbour Investments Inc. Has $591,000 Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 17.3% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,377 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $263.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research 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, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $275.68.

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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 1.3 %

NSC opened at $261.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. Norfolk Southern Co. has a twelve month low of $205.70 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The firm has a market cap of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

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.