Whittier Trust Co. Increases Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Whittier Trust Co. raised its position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 7.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 192,591 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,584 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. owned 0.09% of Norfolk Southern worth $49,297,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,680,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth $321,393,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 341.9% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 789,950 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $187,100,000 after acquiring an additional 611,198 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth $122,256,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth $110,209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.80.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $290.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $65.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $285.39 and a two-hundred day moving average of $260.77. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $201.63 and a 1-year high of $302.24.

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

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.