Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Makes New $185.20 Million Investment in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 588,715 shares of the railroad operator’s stock, valued at approximately $185,204,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,033,549,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,803,630,000 after acquiring an additional 379,819 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 worth $1,401,797,000 after acquiring an additional 36,205 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 3,019,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $871,646,000 after acquiring an additional 269,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $352.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $79.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.09, a PEG ratio of 6.18 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $330.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $314.49. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 52-week low of $268.23 and a 52-week high of $358.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.02% and a return on equity of 18.21%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.29 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued 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 (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

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.