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

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $266.50.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $247.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.2%

NSC opened at $244.23 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $226.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $242.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $55.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.13, 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.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,813,114,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 3.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $983,161,000 after purchasing an additional 138,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $947,006,000 after purchasing an additional 29,753 shares during 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.