Quantinno Capital Management LP Grows Stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 69.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,843 shares of the railroad operator's stock after purchasing an additional 4,030 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $33,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 59.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Benchmark raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Norfolk Southern stock traded down $5.69 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $250.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,064,892 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,239,751. The company has a market capitalization of $56.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.31. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $259.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.30. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60. 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 (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The company 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 company posted $2.65 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.70%.

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.