Wealthfront Advisers LLC Purchases New Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 22,955 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $7,221,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at about $5,033,549,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake 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 worth $2,803,630,000 after purchasing an additional 379,819 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,084,701,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Stephens upgraded Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on shares of 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 Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $345.56 on Thursday. 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 $77.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.48, a PEG ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $326.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $312.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 21.02%.The business’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 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.