Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Announces Earnings Results

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The railroad operator reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.86 by $0.20, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $3.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 14.85% and a return on equity of 19.77%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 10.9 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $247.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $55.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.32. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $222.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.48. 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 2nd will be given a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 2nd. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 86.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on NSC shares. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $294.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $245.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $277.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $264.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sameh Fahmy bought 2,000 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,534,750. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Claude Mongeau acquired 5,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $221.00 per share, with a total value of $1,248,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,420,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $219.25 per share, with a total value of $438,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 7,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,534,750. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.