Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.07 EPS

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) released its earnings results on Wednesday. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07, Zacks reports. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 21.63%. Norfolk Southern updated its FY 2025 guidance to EPS.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.7 %

NSC traded up $1.78 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $258.98. The stock had a trading volume of 53,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,726. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $249.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.34. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $206.71 and a 52 week high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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