Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $274.84.

NSC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $256.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere bought 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at approximately $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. United Bank raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.4% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 8,875 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,205,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 33,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $8,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,783 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at approximately $440,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.8% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,985 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $237.24 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.93. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The firm has a market cap of $53.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

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.