Brokerages Set Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) PT at $276.63

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $274.84.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $293.00 price target on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $292.00 to $272.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere acquired 607 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $547,575,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 918,559 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 48.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,702,344 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,532,000 after acquiring an additional 881,415 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $207,830,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,020,392 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $945,385,000 after purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 2.0 %

NSC opened at $230.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 0.90. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $52.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.08.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio 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.