Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 114 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,889 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $15,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after buying an additional 196,249 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,133,828,000 after buying an additional 62,186 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after buying an additional 103,281 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after buying an additional 3,280,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after buying an additional 881,415 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $238.79 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 12 month low of $206.71 and a 12 month high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.07 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.84.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NSC. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Loop Capital cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.11.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.