NYSE:NSC Norfolk Southern Stock and Profitability Discussion

Could The Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Ownership Structure Tell Us Something Useful?: SimplyWall.st

If you want to know who really controls Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. Large companies usually have institutions as shareholders, and we usually see insiders owning shares in smaller companies. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.

Norfolk Southern has a market capitalization of US$52b, so it’s too big to fly under the radar. We’d expect to see both institutions and retail investors owning a portion of the company. In the chart below below, we can see that institutional investors have bought into the company. We can zoom in on the different ownership groups, to learn more about NSC.
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Most of NSC stock is held by banks and funds. Over 75% is held by institutions. The largest holder is Vanguard. So, that information is useless. CSX is 76% held by institutions, the same names.

I posted on the CSX board that I would not be surprised to see Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway eventually extend its Burlington Northern via acquisition of either CSX of NSC. This is not investment advice and all the usual disclaimers!
I own personally 50 shares of NSC.

I do watch railroad cams and I am glad to see the railroads hauling longer and longer trains with great efficiency. Whether you watch the Horseshoe Curve, Kearney NE, Fostoria OH, or Skykomish WA you are going to see a lot of trains especially containers.

I have an affinity for NS as I have ridden their lines in the deep South. I would imagine a lot of companies that large have companies with big pockets (perhaps also VC and other interests in larger companies that are clients of NSC). I will have to keep an eye on their stocks, maybe I will pick some up sometime.

I'm not sure BNSF/Berkshire could get a controlling interest in NSC lest we have another Penn Central. I'm sure there are regulators who would advise against it and perhaps Warren Buffett's own people are advising against it as well. They can probably gobble up more short lines and stay off the Fed's radar in that respect.