Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-four ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $307.8947.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on NSC shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $320.00 to $310.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $340.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,472 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $16,305,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $474,000. Downshift Financial LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $324,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 92,032 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $26,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $1,322,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $288.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $70.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $319.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.90 and a 200-day moving average of $292.90.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.78% and a net margin of 23.59%.The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.35%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.