Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Issues Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.09 EPS

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The railroad operator reported $2.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company had revenue of $3 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.32 EPS. Norfolk Southern’s revenue was down 4.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:NSC traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $238.13. 584,472 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,272,440. The firm has a market cap of $58.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.12.

Norfolk Southern Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio is 67.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Norfolk Southern from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 22nd. Barclays raised shares of Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $300.00 target price on the stock. Finally, 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 note on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.