Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 703 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 15.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,241 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 703 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,318,716,000 after acquiring an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,133,828,000 after acquiring an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the third quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $967,340,000 after acquiring an additional 103,281 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $819,553,000 after acquiring an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on NSC shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Stephens raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $276.95.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.19% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $230.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $52.28 billion, a PE ratio of 19.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $206.71 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $246.51 and a 200-day moving average of $250.74.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 46.71%.

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.