Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Acquires New Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Key Points

• Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. purchased 1,340 shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation, valued at approximately $317,000, marking a new position in the railroad operator during the first quarter.
• Norfolk Southern reported a strong earnings performance with $3.29 earnings per share, surpassing expectations and achieving revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 1.9% and a payout ratio of 36.49%.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,340 shares of the railroad operator's stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Greenline Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter worth about $35,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Citigroup lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $278.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded Norfolk Southern from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $285.15.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $1.69 during trading on Thursday, hitting $279.88. The stock had a trading volume of 910,415 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,607,927. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The firm's fifty day moving average is $273.93 and its 200 day moving average is $249.06. The company has a market capitalization of $62.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.29. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $291.69.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.35 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 36.49%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.