Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,207 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) by 46.7%, selling 1,207 shares and now owning 1,378 shares valued at $353,000.
• Analysts have recently raised the price targets for Norfolk Southern, with Barclays increasing their target to $320.00 and Evercore ISI to $298.00, reflecting optimistic sentiments about the stock.
• Norfolk Southern declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35, resulting in an annual yield of 1.8% and a payout ratio of 36.49%.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC decreased its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,378 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 1,207 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $353,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $4,813,114,000 after acquiring an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,680,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $983,161,000 after purchasing an additional 138,678 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $947,006,000 after buying an additional 29,753 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 6.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,128,102 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $740,891,000 after acquiring an additional 189,076 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Loop Capital increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $235.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $288.00 price target (up from $282.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $292.50.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $299.98 on Tuesday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $302.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $67.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $282.90 and a 200-day moving average of $256.57.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.24 by $0.05. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 27.51%.The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.49%.

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.

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