Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.65 earnings per share.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.4 %

Norfolk Southern stock traded down $3.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $253.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,378,248 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,260,609. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.88. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $57.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.81, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $274.16.

About Norfolk Southern

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.