Brokerages Set Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Price Target at $262.32

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $262.32.

NSC has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,699,371,000 after buying an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $605,331,000 after acquiring an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $469,764,000 after purchasing an additional 73,149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth about $556,797,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $230.47 on Friday. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $52.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $249.23 and a 200-day moving average of $234.20.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is currently 86.96%.

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.