Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $262.32.

NSC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Provence Wealth Management Group bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 317.1% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 146 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $235.55 on Friday. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market capitalization of $53.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.93, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $250.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.40.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.32 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

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.