Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC Shares Bought by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank raised its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 63,928 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,767 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $20,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of NSC. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 29.2% in the second quarter. PensionDanmark Pensionsforsikringsaktieselskab now owns 54,620 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $17,183,000 after purchasing an additional 12,350 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 19.3% during the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 2,065 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $666,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. Evanson Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $261,000. Foster Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 1,405 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $442,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 7,124 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,241,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on NSC. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Evercore set a $358.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC opened at $334.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $322.11 and its 200-day moving average is $309.66. The stock has a market cap of $75.21 billion, a PE ratio of 28.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a twelve month low of $268.23 and a twelve month high of $358.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 21.02%.The business 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 company posted $3.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

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

About Norfolk Southern

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.