Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) PT Lowered to $267.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $270.00 to $267.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 9.05% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on NSC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $239.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $264.53.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 9.8 %

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $21.94 during trading on Friday, reaching $244.84. The company had a trading volume of 352,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,820. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $222.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.36. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The stock has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.41, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.85 by $0.21. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total transaction of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 209.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 111,914 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $26,454,000 after purchasing an additional 75,729 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 150,998 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $35,692,000 after purchasing an additional 40,861 shares in the last quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $608,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $984,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,442,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.