Checchi Capital Advisers LLC Cuts Stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Checchi Capital Advisers LLC cut its stake in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,726 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 144 shares during the quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC’s holdings in Norfolk Southern were worth $698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 115,400.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,155 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 7.0% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 1,157 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.6% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,502 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $6,277,000 after buying an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 6.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,845 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $839,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. TD Cowen raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $263.00 to $323.00 in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $298.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fourteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.50.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $300.02 on Monday. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $302.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.33. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 0.79 and a quick ratio of 0.71.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 1st were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 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.