Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Cut to $274.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Evercore ISI from $276.00 to $274.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 6.74% from the stock’s previous close.

NSC has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.83.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE NSC traded down $3.72 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $256.71. 290,004 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,253,690. The company has a market capitalization of $57.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $248.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.73. 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.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.15. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.65 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $371,077.44. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard H. Anderson bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $247.48 per share, with a total value of $494,960.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $742,440. This represents a 200.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% during the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,206 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,791,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4,083.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 325,270 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $80,830,000 after purchasing an additional 317,494 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 19.2% during the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 67,561 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $16,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,890 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,045 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,005,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 23,037.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 349,143 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $86,762,000 after purchasing an additional 347,634 shares in the last quarter. 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.