Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Given New $280.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price boosted by Wells Fargo & Company from $270.00 to $280.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $251.09 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $56.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $249.01 and its 200-day moving average is $236.99. Norfolk Southern has a 52-week low of $183.76 and a 52-week high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 50.70%.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have bought a total of 3,700 shares of company stock valued at $921,565 over the last three months. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,525,699,000 after acquiring an additional 124,362 shares in the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,789,436 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $813,554,000 after buying an additional 37,386 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after buying an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods in the United States. The company transports agriculture, forest, and consumer products comprising soybeans, wheat, corn, fertilizers, livestock and poultry feed, food products, food oils, flour, sweeteners, ethanol, lumber and wood products, pulp board and paper products, wood fibers, wood pulp, beverages, and canned goods; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products comprising crude oil, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, sand, and natural gas liquids; metals and construction materials, such as steel, aluminum products, machinery, scrap metals, cement, aggregates, minerals, clay, transportation equipment, and military-related products; and automotive, including finished motor vehicles and automotive parts, as well as coal.