PDS Planning Inc Boosts Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 7.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,091 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the quarter. PDS Planning Inc’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $321,393,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 611,198 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth $122,256,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. bought a new position 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $354.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.25.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC opened at $288.34 on Monday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.21. The firm has a market cap of $64.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.33. 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.49%.

Norfolk Southern 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.