Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $268.79.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $222.11 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $277.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $231.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $245.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after purchasing an additional 139,485 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after buying an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after buying an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after buying an additional 580,293 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,968,582 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $931,426,000 after acquiring an additional 75,865 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Norfolk Southern

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.