Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 9,190 shares and still holding about 1.73 million shares valued at roughly $500.9 million.
• Norfolk Southern’s latest quarterly earnings beat EPS estimates at $2.65 per share, though revenue of $3.0 billion came in below expectations. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Hold with an average target price of $319.83.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 1.7%, while the stock recently traded near its 52-week high at $313.72.

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,734,884 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 9,190 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.77% of Norfolk Southern worth $500,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 64.1% in the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 185.1% in the second quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NSC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group set a $327.00 price target on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research raised Norfolk Southern from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Norfolk Southern from $296.00 to $292.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $319.83.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $313.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $297.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.81 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $236.37 and a 1 year high of $323.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 21.91%.The business's revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is 45.49%.

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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