Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 9.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 341,574 shares of the railroad operator's stock after purchasing an additional 29,854 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Norfolk Southern worth $107,455,765 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in NSC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $5,033,549,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,401,797,000 after acquiring an additional 36,205 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $1,084,701,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $978,977,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,259,558 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $648,429,000 after acquiring an additional 46,127 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on NSC. Susquehanna raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Norfolk Southern from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $351.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.5%

NSC traded up $1.69 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $321.74. 194,315 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,222,382. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.55 and a fifty-two week high of $358.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business's 50 day moving average is $335.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.03. The stock has a market cap of $72.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 21.02%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major freight railroad company serving the eastern United States. Through its railway network, the company transports raw materials, intermediate goods and finished products for industrial, agricultural, manufacturing and consumer markets. Its operations connect customers with domestic markets, major ports and other rail carriers.

The company transports a diverse range of commodities, including intermodal containers, coal, automotive products, agriculture and consumer goods, chemicals, metals, forest products and construction materials.

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