Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 118,697 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,179,610 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after buying an additional 118,697 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $654,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13,000.0% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,668 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.8% during the third quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 121,351 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $36,455,000 after acquiring an additional 29,264 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.5% in the third quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 256,500 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $77,055,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,165,000. Finally, First Horizon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth about $565,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director William Jr. Clyburn purchased 204 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $294.79 per share, with a total value of $60,137.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 405 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $119,389.95. This represents a 101.49% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $347.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Zacks Research cut Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $354.00 to $297.00 in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $317.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $304.47.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $317.33 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $298.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $291.07. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $319.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $71.26 billion, a PE ratio of 24.89, a P/E/G ratio of 5.73 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 23.59%.Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. On average, 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 Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.35%.

About Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.