Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) PT Raised to $280.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $275.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 11.92% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $266.17.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.7 %

NSC stock opened at $250.17 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The company has a market capitalization of $56.52 billion, a PE ratio of 40.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $246.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $236.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,072 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after buying an additional 124,362 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.0% in the second 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. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $735,749,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766,135 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.