Stephens Reaffirms “Equal Weight” Rating for Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC)

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $263.00 price target on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on NSC. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.9 %

NSC opened at $251.09 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 0.73 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $249.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $237.00. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.76 and a 12 month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard H. Anderson acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $247.48 per share, for a total transaction of $494,960.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,000 shares in the company, valued at $742,440. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 3,700 shares of company stock worth $921,565. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,265 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $325,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 7,716 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 381 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,043 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. 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.