Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC Reduces Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• CBRE Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern by 99.5% in Q3, selling 606,596 shares and leaving just 3,196 shares valued at $960,000.
• Norfolk Southern reported quarterly EPS of $3.22 vs. estimates of $2.76 while revenue was $3.0 billion (slightly below expectations and down 1.7% year‑over‑year), and it pays a quarterly dividend of $1.35 ($5.40 annualized, 1.8% yield).
• Institutional investors own about 75.10% of the stock; the market cap is $66.92 billion, and analysts have an average rating of "Hold" with a consensus price target of $308.95.

Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 99.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,196 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 606,596 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $960,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,561,273 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $5,263,069,000 after acquiring an additional 239,914 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,859,121 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,779,609,000 after purchasing an additional 192,567 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,822,075 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,228,064,000 after purchasing an additional 36,362 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.6% in the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,182,921 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,070,702,000 after purchasing an additional 184,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 6.5% in the second quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,289,431 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $841,994,000 after purchasing an additional 201,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $297.98 on Thursday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $300.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $291.92. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $319.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a PEG ratio of 5.39 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. Norfolk Southern's quarterly revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is 42.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Benchmark reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an "equal weight" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eighteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $308.95.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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.

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