Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) PT Raised to $253.00 at TD Cowen

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price target lifted by TD Cowen from $251.00 to $253.00 in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

NSC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $239.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a buy rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Benchmark reiterated a buy rating and issued a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $264.24.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC opened at $247.63 on Friday. 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 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $55.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50-day moving average of $222.97 and a 200-day moving average of $237.76.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

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

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of Tennessee Treasury Department raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 209.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 111,914 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,454,000 after buying an additional 75,729 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 150,998 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $35,692,000 after buying an additional 40,861 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $608,000. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter valued at $984,000. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $1,442,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.