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

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $275.68.

NSC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $283.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $236.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $253.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.36. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,639 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,431,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at approximately $79,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4,336.9% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,814 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 89,300.0% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the period. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 89,857 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $19,291,000 after buying an additional 4,113 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.