Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $253.00 to $286.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Citigroup’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.18% from the company’s current price.
A number of other research firms have also recently commented on NSC. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $209.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. TheStreet raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $245.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $250.00 to $233.00 in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $238.94.
Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.9 %
Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $2.15 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $252.70. The company had a trading volume of 266,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,544,285. The business’s 50-day moving average is $233.45 and its 200-day moving average is $215.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $57.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $255.80.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.42 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norfolk Southern
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 17,580 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $3,986,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,235,490 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $280,160,000 after buying an additional 4,598 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,259,000. PFG Investments LLC increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Finally, EA Series Trust acquired a new position in Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $420,000. 72.37% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
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.