Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) Short Interest Down 17.9% in March

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,726,471 shares, a decline of 17.9% from the February 26th total of 10,633,155 shares. Currently, 3.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,385,055 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC traded up $2.78 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $286.03. 236,934 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,254,618. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $319.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $292.75. The stock has a market cap of $64.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.11 and a beta of 1.31.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The company had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.04 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 42.35%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 10,859,121 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,779,609,000 after purchasing an additional 192,567 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,710,549 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,803,630,000 after purchasing an additional 379,819 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,878,029 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,401,797,000 after purchasing an additional 36,205 shares during the period. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the second quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 4,182,921 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,070,702,000 after buying an additional 184,586 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $361.00 to $368.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $299.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $309.95.

About Norfolk Southern

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.