Norfolk Southern Co. (NSC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 on November 20th

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, October 18th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be given a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Wednesday, November 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%.

Norfolk Southern has increased its dividend by an average of 12.8% per year over the last three years. Norfolk Southern has a dividend payout ratio of 39.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $13.57 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.8%.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $252.37 on Friday. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $236.77. The firm has a market cap of $57.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Norfolk Southern

In related news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 13th. The shares were 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 directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on NSC. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $266.17.

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.