Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Saturday . The stock traded as high as $280.00 and last traded at $277.00, with a volume of 6134047 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $269.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NSC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $255.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $258.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.55.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 2.7%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $252.39 and a 200 day moving average of $241.81. The firm has a market cap of $62.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 27.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. WPG Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Greenline Partners LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% 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.