Brokerages Set Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) PT at $276.11

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $276.11.

Several research firms recently commented on NSC. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $646,271.82. The trade was a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This represents a 3.50 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $4,714,927,000 after acquiring an additional 139,485 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after buying an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,608,080 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,020,318,000 after buying an additional 918,559 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after buying an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $945,385,000 after buying an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $245.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $246.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.91.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.04% and a net margin of 21.63%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.