Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Receives $275.68 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $275.68.

NSC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at $25,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the second quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.5 %

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $234.15 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $258.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $244.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.70%.

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.