Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Purchased by Saudi Central Bank

Saudi Central Bank boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 89.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,715 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,433 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $4,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in NSC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $3,272,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $12,533,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth $3,669,000. SCS Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at $13,837,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at $1,376,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on NSC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $363.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $329.07 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. 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 $335.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.67.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 21.02%.The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.87 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern 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.