Norfolk Southern (NSC) Scheduled to Post Quarterly Earnings on Wednesday

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) will be issuing its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, April 24th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.64 per share for the quarter. Norfolk Southern has set its FY 2024 guidance at EPS.Parties that wish to listen to the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect Norfolk Southern to post $12 EPS for the current fiscal year and $14 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.4 %

NSC opened at $241.28 on Monday. Norfolk Southern has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $252.95 and a 200-day moving average of $231.33.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 67.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after buying an additional 3,025,065 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $537,007,000. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 28.2% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 8,233,372 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,946,204,000 after buying an additional 1,810,658 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 86.7% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after buying an additional 1,265,666 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 33.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $627,438,000 after buying an additional 638,384 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on NSC. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $233.00 to $244.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.74.

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.