Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-two brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $322.7059.

NSC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $325.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,825,837 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,012,836,000 after purchasing an additional 272,651 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,803,630,000 after purchasing an additional 379,819 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,401,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,205 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 3,019,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $871,646,000 after purchasing an additional 269,000 shares in the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $303.66 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $309.99 and a 200-day moving average of $300.77. The firm has a market cap of $68.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a P/E/G ratio of 5.54 and a beta of 1.27. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $251.62 and a twelve month high of $326.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.13 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 12.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were issued a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is presently 45.49%.

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.