Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) PT Raised to $309.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price objective raised by UBS Group from $289.00 to $309.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on NSC. Barclays upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.16.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE NSC opened at $251.09 on Wednesday. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.76 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $56.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $249.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $236.99.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its 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. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 11.78 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’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 owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This trade represents 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 the SEC website. Also, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders acquired a total of 3,700 shares of company stock worth $921,565 in the last 90 days. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 72.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 2,900 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $739,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,527 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $10,584,000 after buying an additional 2,483 shares in the last quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunburst Financial Group LLC now owns 1,063 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $268,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,477 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth approximately $56,144,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.