Two Sigma Securities LLC Sells 14,834 Shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Two Sigma Securities LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 91.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,376 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 14,834 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter worth $5,033,549,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.1% in the 4th 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,084,701,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth $978,977,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore set a $358.00 target price on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $351.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $363.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:NSC opened at $330.54 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $334.78 and its 200-day moving average is $315.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.83. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52 week low of $268.23 and a 52 week high of $358.60. The firm has a market cap of $74.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.20, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.29 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern Company 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.