Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Purchased by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,032 shares of the railroad operator's stock after buying an additional 906 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $2,312,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 61.8% during the first quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,741 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.3% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 21.8% during the first quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 1,342 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.2% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 71,645 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $16,969,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on NSC. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $323.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Eight investment 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.25.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 2.2%

NYSE NSC opened at $288.34 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month 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 capitalization of $64.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.33. The company's fifty day moving average price is $284.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.90.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is 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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