Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Given New $310.00 Price Target at Jefferies Financial Group

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price objective decreased by Jefferies Financial Group from $350.00 to $310.00 in a report issued on Monday,MarketScreener reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on NSC. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $350.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $322.00 to $313.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.53.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NYSE:NSC opened at $287.78 on Monday. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $202.54 and a 52 week high of $319.94. The firm has a market cap of $70.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $293.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 6th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Norfolk Southern’s payout ratio is 42.35%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,084,701,000. Pentwater Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $826,128,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 545.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,306,203 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $392,396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,103,748 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $329,629,000. Finally, HBK Investments L P grew its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 67.7% during the 4th quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 2,130,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $614,974,000 after purchasing an additional 860,000 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.