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 research report sent to investors on Monday morning, The Fly reports. They currently have $250.00 price target on the railroad operator’s stock, up from their prior price target of $225.00.

NSC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $256.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Argus downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $266.00 to $258.00 in a report on Monday, March 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $239.00 to $226.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 27th. Finally, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM reiterated a maintains rating on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $242.48.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.1 %

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $211.22 on Monday. Norfolk Southern has a 12-month low of $196.33 and a 12-month high of $264.22. The company has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $207.73 and its 200 day moving average is $230.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 5th were given 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 payout ratio is currently 41.51%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 18.3% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,647,054 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,603,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181,936 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.3% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,112,708 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $869,600,000 after purchasing an additional 13,513 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 95,518.3% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,028,232 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $746,217,000 after purchasing an additional 3,025,065 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,724,821 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $671,451,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 33.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,546,214 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $627,438,000 after buying an additional 638,384 shares during the last quarter. 72.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.