Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $275.68.

NSC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 350 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,639 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,431,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at about $79,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4,336.9% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 4,814 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 89,300.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 894 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.8% during the 2nd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 89,857 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $19,291,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $237.48 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $53.73 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $253.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $246.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $206.71 and a twelve month high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

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.