ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,800 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 22.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 1,800 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $1,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of NSC. WPG Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 129.2% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 149 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 883.3% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 177 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on NSC shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $323.00 in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $288.00 target price (up previously from $282.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $235.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $292.50.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $300.02 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $67.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $282.63 and its 200 day moving average is $255.79. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $201.63 and a 1 year high of $302.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share 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 business 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. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.49%.

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.