Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation $NSC

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) by 1.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 265,570 shares of the railroad operator’s stock after selling 4,756 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Norfolk Southern worth $76,219,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter valued at $3,272,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 43,408 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $12,533,000 after buying an additional 3,887 shares during the period. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 49.3% during the fourth quarter. GABELLI & Co INVESTMENT ADVISERS INC. now owns 50,620 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $14,615,000 after buying an additional 16,720 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 138,194 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $39,899,000 after acquiring an additional 10,910 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 54.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 51,112 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $14,757,000 after acquiring an additional 18,012 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $331.00 to $316.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group set a $327.00 target price on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $329.35.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $337.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $75.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Norfolk Southern Corporation has a 1 year low of $264.01 and a 1 year high of $339.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $314.23 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.16.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 45.49%.

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.