Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wolfe Research Analyst Says

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price target raised by Wolfe Research from $350.00 to $355.00 in a report released on Tuesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 23.74% from the company’s previous close.

NSC has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $342.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $301.00 to $296.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Evercore raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $298.00 to $299.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research raised Norfolk Southern from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $288.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seventeen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.53.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Norfolk Southern stock opened at $286.90 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $201.63 and a one year high of $319.94. The firm has a market cap of $70.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.25 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $299.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.15.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.46. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 23.59% and a return on equity of 18.78%. The business had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.04 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of NSC. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in Norfolk Southern by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 56,472 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $16,305,000 after buying an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC purchased a new position in Norfolk Southern during the fourth quarter valued at $474,000. Downshift Financial LLC bought a new stake in Norfolk Southern in the 4th quarter valued at $324,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 92,032 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $26,572,000 after purchasing an additional 4,926 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of Norfolk Southern in the fourth quarter worth about $1,322,000. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Norfolk Southern Company Profile

Norfolk Southern Corporation is a major U.S. freight railroad company that provides rail transportation and related logistics services. As a Class I carrier, the company operates an extensive network across the eastern United States and offers scheduled freight service for a broad range of industries. Its core operations include long-haul and regional rail freight transportation, intermodal services that move containers and trailers between rail and other modes, and terminal and switching services that support efficient rail shipments for industrial and port customers.

The company transports a variety of commodities, serving sectors such as coal and energy, automotive and automotive parts, chemicals, agriculture, metals and construction materials, and consumer goods.