Analysts Set Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Price Target at $267.24

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-one analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $267.24.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on NSC shares. Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $271.00 to $270.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,813,114,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after acquiring an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $983,161,000 after acquiring an additional 138,678 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $947,006,000 after acquiring an additional 29,753 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock opened at $248.30 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $55.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Norfolk Southern has a 12-month low of $201.63 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $232.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.87.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.72 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 20.04%. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.49 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 36.89%.

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.