Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Sees Strong Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $290.00 to $305.00. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the stock. Approximately 2,023,537 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 62% from the previous session’s volume of 1,252,050 shares.The stock last traded at $278.45 and had previously closed at $269.81.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $259.00 to $288.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $278.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $258.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,680,910,000 after buying an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth approximately $547,575,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $321,393,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 25,555.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 989,796 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $234,433,000 after buying an additional 985,938 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 341.9% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 789,950 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $187,100,000 after buying an additional 611,198 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 2.7%

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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $241.71. The company has a market cap of $62.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released 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 return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 27.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

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.