Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Price Target Cut to $300.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $320.00 to $300.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the railroad operator’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 26.61% from the stock’s current price.

NSC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $275.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $291.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $276.00 to $274.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.68.

Norfolk Southern Trading Down 0.3 %

NYSE:NSC opened at $236.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $206.71 and a 1 year high of $277.60. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $253.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.36. The stock has a market cap of $53.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The railroad operator reported $3.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.11 by $0.14. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 19.85% and a return on equity of 20.25%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.65 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Norfolk Southern

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy purchased 350 shares of Norfolk Southern stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $249.37 per share, with a total value of $87,279.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 10,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,580,979.50. This trade represents a 3.50 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NSC. State Street Corp increased its stake in Norfolk Southern by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,330,849 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $2,318,716,000 after purchasing an additional 196,249 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,580,925 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $1,133,828,000 after acquiring an additional 62,186 shares during the last quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,892,717 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $967,340,000 after buying an additional 103,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Norfolk Southern by 17.3% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,356,590 shares of the railroad operator’s stock valued at $720,626,000 after acquiring an additional 496,088 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Norfolk Southern by 18,831.2% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 3,298,000 shares of the railroad operator’s stock worth $819,553,000 after buying an additional 3,280,579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.10% of the company’s stock.

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.