Whittier Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 5.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 215,176 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,895 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $61,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,825,837 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $6,012,836,000 after buying an additional 272,651 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,803,630,000 after acquiring an additional 379,819 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,401,797,000 after acquiring an additional 36,205 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 3,019,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $871,646,000 after purchasing an additional 269,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $320.35.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $322.85 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $257.49 and a 12 month high of $326.00. The stock has a market cap of $72.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.20, a PEG ratio of 5.96 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50 day moving average is $312.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.01.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.49%.

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.