Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The railroad operator reported $3.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14, Briefing.com reports. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.65 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis.

Norfolk Southern Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE:NSC traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $253.35. The company had a trading volume of 46,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,744. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.31. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $248.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $236.88. Norfolk Southern has a 12-month low of $183.76 and a 12-month high of $263.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st will be issued a $1.35 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 1st. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. Norfolk Southern’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.70%.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In related news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total value of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,970,819.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Norfolk Southern news, CEO Alan H. Shaw sold 51,325 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.98, for a total transaction of $13,138,173.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 35,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,970,819.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $245.15 per share, with a total value of $171,605.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 7,700 shares in the company, valued at $1,887,655. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.19% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $294.00 to $302.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $253.00 to $259.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $274.16.

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.