AXQ Capital LP Buys Shares of 2,372 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,372 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 423.8% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 110 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 58.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 130 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Financial Gravity Companies Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 30.5% during the second quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 184 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.10.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $286.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $287.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.84, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.33. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $302.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.01). The company 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.25 EPS. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.19%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 1,650 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 approximately $3,395,640. The trade was a 15.94% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Anil Bhatt sold 900 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $281.60, for a total value of $253,440.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 1,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $397,900.80. This trade represents a 38.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.