Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 265,570 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 4,756 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $76,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 64.1% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 185.1% in the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,174,000 after acquiring an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target 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. Evercore set a $325.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $329.35.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 2.9%

Shares of NSC stock opened at $337.98 on Friday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $264.01 and a 1-year high of $339.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $314.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $304.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $75.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.30% and a net margin of 21.91%.The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.13 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 45.49%.

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.