Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Raised to $305.00

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price target upped by Barclays from $290.00 to $305.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on NSC. Bank of America boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $261.26 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $252.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $205.70 and a 52 week high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.08 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.65 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be paid a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 50.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at $8,970,819.10. This represents a 59.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $255.00 per share, with a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,550,000. This trade represents a 11.11 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Norfolk Southern during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.