Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.32 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded down $0.31 during trading on Friday, reaching $240.52. The stock had a trading volume of 224,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,276,038. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.18. The company has a market capitalization of $59.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.73, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 86.96%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on NSC. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.32.

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.