Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Trading Up 6.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) was up 6.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $305.00 to $330.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Norfolk Southern traded as high as $318.60 and last traded at $318.0650. Approximately 484,159 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 1,290,409 shares. The stock had previously closed at $298.33.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NSC. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $314.00 to $313.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $310.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NSC. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $400,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 6,447 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,855 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $327,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 4,275 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 185.1% during the 2nd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 4,588 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,979 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $299.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.79 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 5.50 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.35%.

About Norfolk Southern

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.