Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 2,391 Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Posted by on Mar 15th, 2023

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) by 1.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,322 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 2,391 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.07% of Norfolk Southern worth $34,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 18.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,647,054 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,603,203,000 after buying an additional 1,181,936 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 216.8% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,044,472 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $218,973,000 after purchasing an additional 714,737 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 31.4% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,330,991 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $529,811,000 after purchasing an additional 557,432 shares in the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 63.2% in the third quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,324,376 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $277,655,000 after purchasing an additional 512,626 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 64.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 620,400 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $141,011,000 after purchasing an additional 242,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.98% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.2 %

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $208.08 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern Co. has a fifty-two week low of $203.65 and a fifty-two week high of $291.55. The stock has a market cap of $47.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $238.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.76.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.20 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 25.66% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. This is a boost from Norfolk Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 38.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Credit Suisse Group decreased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $225.00 to $231.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.17.

About Norfolk Southern

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Norfolk Southern Corp. is a transportation company, which engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Its services include property leases and sales, wire line or pipeline and fiber optics projects, access property, managing private crossings, promoting businesses with signboards, and natural resource management.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC)

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