New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 10th, 2023

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,630 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 7,294 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.11% of Norfolk Southern worth $60,775,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Adirondack Trust Co. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $31,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Newfound Research LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $39,000. 72.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

NSC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $244.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $272.00 to $269.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Argus downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $266.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.83.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $205.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.76. The company has a market cap of $50.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.29. Norfolk Southern Co. has a 1 year low of $196.33 and a 1 year high of $276.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $221.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $232.51.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.41 by $0.01. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 25.66%. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.12 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 3rd were paid a $1.35 dividend. This is a positive change from Norfolk Southern’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.24. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 38.85%.

Norfolk Southern Profile

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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.