Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Raised to $241.00 at Stifel Nicolaus

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price boosted by Stifel Nicolaus from $239.00 to $241.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a hold rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

NSC has been the subject of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley reiterated an underweight rating and set a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a buy rating and set a $277.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $264.65.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 10.9 %

Shares of Norfolk Southern stock opened at $247.15 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $55.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.32. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $222.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $237.48.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.77% and a net margin of 14.85%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Norfolk Southern news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Claude Mongeau bought 5,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $221.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,248,650.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,420,000. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 1,016 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $240,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,986 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,360,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 7,456 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is 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.