Westpac Banking Corp Purchases New Position in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 1,920 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $604,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,825,837 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,012,836,000 after acquiring an additional 272,651 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,033,549,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,803,630,000 after purchasing an additional 379,819 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 36,205 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during 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.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.2%

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $350.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $328.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $313.31. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 12 month low of $268.23 and a 12 month high of $358.60. The company has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.21 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 12.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $337.00 to $376.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $363.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

About Norfolk Southern

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.