Norfolk Southern Co. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 (NYSE:NSC)

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%.

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 dividend payout ratio of 38.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $13.59 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 39.7%.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NSC stock opened at $245.03 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $252.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $232.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $60.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a twelve month low of $183.09 and a twelve month high of $263.66.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 11.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on NSC. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern from $270.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.74.

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.