Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Monday, The Fly reports. The firm currently has $250.00 target price on the railroad operator’s stock, up from their previous target price of $225.00.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $221.00 to $210.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $258.00 in a research note on Monday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $177.00 to $174.00 in a research note on Friday, April 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded Norfolk Southern from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $255.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.48.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

NSC stock opened at $211.22 on Monday. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $196.33 and a one year high of $264.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $207.73 and a 200-day moving average of $230.09.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 26th. The railroad operator reported $3.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.40% and a return on equity of 25.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13.43 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 4th. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.56%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.51%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of NSC. Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 1st quarter valued at $356,000. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $12,918,000. Old North State Trust LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 280.8% during the 1st quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 5,088 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 3,752 shares in the last quarter. Toroso Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 11,551 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $2,449,000 after purchasing an additional 1,663 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth about $1,076,000. 72.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

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Norfolk Southern Corp. is a transportation company, which engages in the rail transportation of raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. The company also transports overseas freight through several Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. Its services include property leases and sales, wire line or pipeline and fiber optics projects, access property, managing private crossings, promoting businesses with signboards, and natural resource management.