Shake-Up Alert: 40 Companies Facing Activist Pressure

4. Ancora Advisors at Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC)

Stock Return: 2.59%

S&P 500 Return: 12.78%

Investment date: 31/01/2024

Number of hedge funds holding stakes: 54

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) and its affiliated companies are involved in the movement of raw materials, partially processed items, and finished products via rail across the United States. The firm moves agriculture, forestry, and consumer goods products.

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) has been the subject of an activist campaign propagated by Ancora Holdings after years of underperformance and declining profits. The activist hedge fund has already secured three seats on the board to push for strategic initiatives. The hedge fund has been pushing for the resignation of the current CEO and an overhaul of the management teams. It is also making Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) resort to a standard precision scheduled railroading designed to reduce the number of workers, locomotives, and railroads it needs as part of a new cost structure.

The hedge fund’s efforts are already bearing fruits, as Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) is up by about 6% for the year. According to the Insider Monkey database, 54 hedge funds held stakes in the company as of the end of Q1 2024, up from 50 as of the end of Q4 2023.