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

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its Norfolk Southern stake by 3%, selling 9,522 shares and retaining 311,720 shares valued at approximately $89.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.1% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: seven analysts rate NSC a Buy and 15 rate it a Hold, resulting in a consensus “Hold” rating and a $348 price target.
• Norfolk Southern exceeded quarterly expectations with earnings of $3.52 per share and revenue of $3.46 billion, while declaring a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, representing a 1.6% yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 311,720 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 9,522 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.14% of Norfolk Southern worth $89,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter worth about $3,272,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 43,408 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $12,533,000 after purchasing an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 50,620 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $14,615,000 after purchasing an additional 16,720 shares in the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,194 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $39,899,000 after purchasing an additional 10,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 54.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 51,112 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $14,757,000 after purchasing an additional 18,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NSC shares. Barclays increased 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. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $365.00 to $385.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $336.55 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $358.60. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $318.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $307.37. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $75.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.6 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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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