Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Raised to $305.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $285.00 to $305.00 in a research report report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NSC. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Benchmark cut Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.70.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $280.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.86. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $201.63 and a 52 week high of $302.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $285.78 and a 200-day moving average of $262.87.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.31 by ($0.01). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 24.22%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.25 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.19%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after buying an additional 2,710,930 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $613,255,000. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $321,393,000. Holocene Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 550.6% in the second quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 983,366 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $251,712,000 after buying an additional 832,210 shares during the period. Finally, TOMS Capital Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter valued at about $181,995,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.