Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $294.00 price objective on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on NSC. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley restated an underweight rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $267.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $267.06.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

NSC opened at $245.16 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $55.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $246.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $236.70. Norfolk Southern has a fifty-two week low of $183.09 and a fifty-two week high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.8 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total transaction of $88,529.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NSC. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 956 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,516 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC raised its stake in Norfolk Southern by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC now owns 7,716 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 12.4% during the second quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 381 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.0% in the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,477 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.