Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target to $290.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $290.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

NSC has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $274.84.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

NSC stock opened at $235.51 on Thursday. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $245.58 and its 200 day moving average is $249.32. The firm has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.71%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $259.86 per share, with a total value of $157,735.02. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter worth $547,575,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,020,318,000 after buying an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after buying an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $207,830,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $945,385,000 after acquiring an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.