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

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

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $265.00 to $276.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an underweight rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $285.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $266.56.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $244.88 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $55.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $246.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $237.24.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The railroad operator reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.86 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.64% and a net margin of 14.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 2nd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 86.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Nabanita C. Nag sold 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.38, for a total value of $88,529.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at $371,077.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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