Royal Bank of Canada Raises Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target to $272.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $267.00 to $272.00 in a research report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

NSC has been the topic of several other research reports. Benchmark increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $251.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an underweight rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $266.56.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC stock opened at $247.03 on Monday. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $246.35 and its 200-day moving average is $237.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.78, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

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

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.19%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $245.15 per share, for a total transaction of $171,605.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. State of Tennessee Treasury Department grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 209.3% during the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Treasury Department now owns 111,914 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $26,454,000 after purchasing an additional 75,729 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth $1,676,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the second quarter worth $13,627,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 96,384 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $22,783,000 after buying an additional 6,306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Broderick Brian C purchased a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter worth $956,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.