Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 on February 20th

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Friday, February 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th.

Norfolk Southern has increased its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Norfolk Southern has a payout ratio of 37.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $14.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.7%.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.5%

NSC stock opened at $284.78 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.90 billion, a PE ratio of 21.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.86. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $302.24. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $290.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.43.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.89 by ($0.02). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 24.22% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Robert W. Baird set a $293.00 price target on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $347.00 to $333.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.52.

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.