Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Stock Holdings Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 255,200 shares of the railroad operator's stock after acquiring an additional 8,844 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.11% of Norfolk Southern worth $63,417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners grew 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 worth $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 25,181.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 893,459 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $222,025,000 after acquiring an additional 889,925 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.2% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $956,285,000 after purchasing an additional 347,852 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

Norfolk Southern stock traded up $0.96 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $271.67. 1,301,718 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,315,191. The company has a market cap of $61.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 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. The company's fifty day moving average price is $251.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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. 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 at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was bought at an average price of $255.00 per share, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.