SCS Capital Management LLC Acquires 29,771 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

SCS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 247.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,794 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,771 shares during the quarter. SCS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $10,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.1% during the first quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,313 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $311,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 85.0% during the first quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,616 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 4,419 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,813,114,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 5,577 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $282.97 per share, with a total value of $466,900.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 12,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,395,640. This trade represents a 15.94% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anil Bhatt sold 900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.60, for a total value of $253,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 1,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $397,900.80. This represents a 38.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4%

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $295.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.52, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $288.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 24.22%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 41.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $235.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.10.

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.