Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) PT Raised to $280.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price lifted by Jefferies Financial Group from $275.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 11.92% from the company’s previous close.

NSC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $266.17.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC stock opened at $250.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The company has a market cap of $56.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $246.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $236.83.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,887,655. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 2,890,665 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $735,749,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766,135 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 5.9% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,623,690 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $5,001,490,000 after buying an additional 1,088,072 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 17.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after buying an additional 496,088 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.2% in the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $956,285,000 after acquiring an additional 347,852 shares during the period. Finally, Atalanta Sosnoff Capital LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter worth $58,255,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.