Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Stanley Muller on Jul 10th, 2026

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC – Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Friday after Robert W. Baird raised their price target on the stock from $330.00 to $360.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Norfolk Southern traded as high as $326.77 and last traded at $327.1340, with a volume of 51668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $323.77.

NSC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $320.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $310.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $330.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $296.00 to $292.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.39.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Norfolk Southern

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,825,837 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $6,012,836,000 after acquiring an additional 272,651 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,803,630,000 after acquiring an additional 379,819 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,401,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,205 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth about $1,084,701,000. Finally, Pentwater Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 3,019,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $871,646,000 after purchasing an additional 269,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $312.72 and a 200-day moving average of $302.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.87 and a beta of 1.27.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.16. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 18.30%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Corporation will post 12.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 8th were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 8th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.49%.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.