Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida Boosts Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 50.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,435 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Trust Co of Florida’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 25,555.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 989,796 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $234,433,000 after acquiring an additional 985,938 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 341.9% during the first quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 789,950 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $187,100,000 after acquiring an additional 611,198 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at about $122,256,000. Finally, Phoenix Financial Ltd. purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the first quarter valued at about $110,209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $288.00 price objective (up previously from $282.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Susquehanna restated a “neutral” rating and set a $260.00 price objective (up previously from $250.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $285.15.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:NSC opened at $274.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.79. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $291.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.41. The stock has a market cap of $61.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.29.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.24 by $0.05. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 27.51%.The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.49%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.