Susquehanna Increases Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target to $270.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price upped by Susquehanna from $245.00 to $270.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “neutral” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Susquehanna’s price objective points to a potential upside of 7.16% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NSC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $250.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $204.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $215.00 to $207.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.38.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock traded up $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $251.95. The stock had a trading volume of 231,864 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,355,880. The stock has a market cap of $62.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.12.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 12.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 662.5% in the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 122 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.