Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $255.00 to $230.00. The stock traded as low as $210.67 and last traded at $212.30, with a volume of 2050 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $214.55.
Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on NSC. Cowen decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $331.00 to $316.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. Susquehanna lowered Norfolk Southern from a “positive” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $275.00 to $218.00 in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised Norfolk Southern from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $289.00 to $275.00 in a report on Friday, July 15th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. UBS Group downgraded Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $274.40.
Insider Activity
In other news, Director James A. Squires sold 105,420 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.81, for a total transaction of $26,229,550.20. Following the transaction, the director now owns 42,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,631,153.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NSC. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 98.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 6,465,118 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,469,455,000 after buying an additional 3,207,354 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter worth approximately $625,050,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,718,778 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $4,977,349,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,493 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 11.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,350,959 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $1,811,813,000 after acquiring an additional 652,048 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,330,991 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $529,811,000 after buying an additional 557,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.44% of the company’s stock.
Norfolk Southern Price Performance
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $50.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average of $244.45 and a 200 day moving average of $246.59.
Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The railroad operator reported $3.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.14 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 25.57%. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern Co. will post 13.69 EPS for the current year.
Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, August 20th. Investors of record on Monday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $1.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 5th. This represents a $4.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 39.49%.
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, scrap paper, beverages, canned goods, and consumer products; chemicals consist of sulfur and related chemicals, petroleum products, chlorine and bleaching compounds, plastics, rubber, industrial chemicals, chemical wastes, and sand; 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.