Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,846 Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. bought a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,846 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $581,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of NSC. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on NSC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $351.00 to $376.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $316.00 to $338.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $339.44 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1-year low of $268.23 and a 1-year high of $358.60. The company has a market capitalization of $76.24 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 5.92 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a 50-day moving average of $326.03 and a 200-day moving average of $312.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued 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 payout ratio is 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.