Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a neutral rating and a $255.00 price target on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on NSC. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (up from $250.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $259.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $267.48.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NSC stock opened at $262.50 on Tuesday. Norfolk Southern has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $243.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 27.40% and a return on equity of 19.65%. The firm 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 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 36.89%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $624,000. Kohmann Bosshard Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 154.5% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 16,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $3,987,000 after purchasing an additional 10,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth about $125,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.