Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Raised to $355.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price objective upped by BMO Capital Markets from $310.00 to $355.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has a market perform rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens raised shares of Norfolk Southern to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $360.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore set a $358.00 target price on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $308.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and fifteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $348.00.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $336.55 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $75.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.72, a P/E/G ratio of 6.03 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.83. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $318.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.37. Norfolk Southern has a fifty-two week low of $268.23 and a fifty-two week high of $358.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The railroad operator reported $3.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.38 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 18.21% and a net margin of 21.02%.Norfolk Southern’s quarterly revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 12.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.08%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $1,084,701,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter worth about $826,128,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Norfolk Southern by 545.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,306,203 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $392,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,748 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at about $329,629,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P raised its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 67.7% in the 4th quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 2,130,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $614,974,000 after purchasing an additional 860,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

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.