Trajan Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Key Points

• Trajan Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation by 10.8% during the first quarter, owning 37,493 shares valued at $8.88 million.
• Norfolk Southern recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35, with a dividend yield of 1.9%, to be paid on August 20th to investors of record.
• The company reported earnings of $3.29 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and generating a net margin of 27.51%.

Trajan Wealth LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,493 shares of the railroad operator's stock after buying an additional 3,640 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC's holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $8,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $4,813,114,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after acquiring an additional 918,559 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $931,426,000 after acquiring an additional 75,865 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,870,443 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $673,693,000 after acquiring an additional 233,927 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,931,919 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $457,575,000 after acquiring an additional 19,433 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on NSC shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $278.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Baird R W raised Norfolk Southern to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $285.15.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $282.05. The stock had a trading volume of 1,520,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,252,115. The firm has a market cap of $63.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.06, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $265.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $246.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $288.11.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.24 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 27.51%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern's 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.