Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Receives $276.63 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $274.84.

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $547,575,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,020,318,000 after acquiring an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the third quarter valued at approximately $207,830,000. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $235.51 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.32. Norfolk Southern has a 12-month low of $206.71 and a 12-month high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $53.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.37, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 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.