Osterweis Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• Osterweis Capital Management Inc. significantly reduced its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation by 92.7% during the 1st quarter, owning just 586 shares after selling 7,447 shares.
• Norfolk Southern reported an EPS of $3.29 for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35, representing an annualized yield of 1.9%.
• Several analysts have recently upgraded Norfolk Southern’s stock rating and price targets, with Barclays increasing its target from $290 to $300, reflecting a positive outlook for the company.

Osterweis Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) by 92.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 586 shares of the railroad operator's stock after selling 7,447 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in 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. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $249,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 217,830 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $51,125,000 after acquiring an additional 13,347 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 33,472 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $7,856,000 after acquiring an additional 15,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 18.4% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,316 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $285.2970 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $288.11. The stock's fifty day moving average is $268.07 and its 200 day moving average is $247.04. The stock has a market cap of $64.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.79.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.24 by $0.05. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 27.51%.The company had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $255.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI reissued an "in-line" rating and issued a $289.00 price target (up from $279.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Benchmark cut Norfolk Southern from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $285.15.

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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