Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.09 EPS

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.61% and a net margin of 11.76%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.32 earnings per share. Norfolk Southern’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Norfolk Southern Stock Performance

NSC traded down $0.89 on Friday, hitting $239.94. 1,461,075 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 977,733. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $251.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $232.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37. Norfolk Southern has a 52 week low of $183.09 and a 52 week high of $263.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 1.30.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on NSC. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley cut Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 price objective on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.32.

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.