Norfolk Southern Co. (NSC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 on May 20th

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd.

Norfolk Southern has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.8% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Norfolk Southern has a payout ratio of 38.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $13.54 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.9%.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $241.34 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $251.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.52 billion, a PE ratio of 38.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.31 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.58 by ($0.09). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 11.76% and a return on equity of 19.61%. The firm had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.32.

About Norfolk Southern

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.