Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Cut to $267.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price cut by Royal Bank of Canada from $270.00 to $267.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a buy rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $239.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $264.65.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC opened at $247.15 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $222.63 and a 200-day moving average of $237.48. The company has a market capitalization of $55.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.32. Norfolk Southern has a 1-year low of $183.09 and a 1-year high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.68.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.85 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 86.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CMO Claude E. Elkins sold 8,329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.43, for a total value of $1,902,593.47. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 5.9% in 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,986,180 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,525,699,000 after purchasing an additional 124,362 shares during the period. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 10.2% during the first quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,752,050 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $956,285,000 after purchasing an additional 347,852 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 157.1% during the first 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter worth $556,797,000. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.