UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 21.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,492 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 794 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,813,114,000 after buying an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,680,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $983,161,000 after purchasing an additional 138,678 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $947,006,000 after purchasing an additional 29,753 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,128,102 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $740,891,000 after purchasing an additional 189,076 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $299.70.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $281.86 per share, for a total transaction of $732,836.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,973,020. This trade represents a 59.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $281.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $285.55 and a 200-day moving average of $264.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.31 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 24.22% and a return on equity of 18.93%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.19%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.