Toronto Dominion Bank Cuts Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Toronto Dominion Bank lowered its position in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,297 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 20,024 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $19,954,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after purchasing an additional 103,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after purchasing an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after purchasing an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,550,000. This represents a 11.11 % 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. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC opened at $248.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $259.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $243.33. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The stock has a market cap of $56.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.70%.

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.