Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Cut to $290.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price target reduced by Wells Fargo & Company from $300.00 to $290.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on NSC. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $289.00 to $256.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $274.84.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NSC opened at $235.51 on Thursday. 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 cap of $53.33 billion, a PE ratio of 20.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $245.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.32. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gilbert H. Lamphere purchased 607 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $259.86 per share, for a total transaction of $157,735.02. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,487 shares in the company, valued at $646,271.82. This trade represents a 32.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,089,164 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,714,927,000 after buying an additional 139,485 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,318,716,000 after acquiring an additional 196,249 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 918,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 580,293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.