Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Increased to $238.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

by · The Cerbat Gem

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Free Report) had its price target upped by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $236.00 to $238.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the railroad operator’s stock.

NSC has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $204.00 to $248.00 in a research note on Friday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $260.00 to $253.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $220.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $255.00 to $230.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $215.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $238.45.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on NSC

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NYSE NSC opened at $234.12 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.97. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $260.20. The company has a market capitalization of $52.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $210.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.28.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The railroad operator reported $2.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.74 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 16.96% and a return on equity of 22.26%. The company had revenue of $2.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.94 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 11.83 earnings per share for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 3rd were given a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 2nd. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.21%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of NSC. American National Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 143.5% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank now owns 112 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Provence Wealth Management Group purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.37% of the company’s stock.

About Norfolk Southern

(Get Free Report)

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.

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