Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Shares Gap Down to $232.14

Shares of Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $232.14, but opened at $219.98. Norfolk Southern shares last traded at $221.00, with a volume of 702,867 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 2.7 %

The business’s 50 day moving average price is $248.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $51.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,629,330 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,699,371,000 after purchasing an additional 264,031 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,073,839 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $605,331,000 after acquiring an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,723,398 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $536,319,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112,261 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,385,434 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $469,764,000 after acquiring an additional 73,149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at $556,797,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.