Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation by 0.6%, selling 4,980 shares and owning approximately 0.37% of the company, valued at $195,099,000.
• Norfolk Southern's stock reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.29, exceeding analyst expectations, and had a market cap of $63.79 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $5.40 and a dividend yield of 1.9%.

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 823,723 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 4,980 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Norfolk Southern worth $195,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $4,813,114,000 after buying an additional 232,195 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $983,161,000 after buying an additional 138,678 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $931,426,000 after buying an additional 75,865 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 189,076 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on NSC shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 25th. TD Cowen raised Norfolk Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $323.00 in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $288.00 price objective (up previously from $282.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $285.15.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded down $0.61 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $276.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,275,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,762,091. The stock has a market cap of $62.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.79. The company's 50 day moving average price is $270.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.89. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $291.69.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by $0.05. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.51% and a return on equity of 19.35%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is 36.49%.

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.