Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Stock

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) had its price objective boosted by Bank of America from $290.00 to $305.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the railroad operator's stock. Bank of America's price target indicates a potential upside of 13.06% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Norfolk Southern from $305.00 to $290.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Norfolk Southern from $258.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $278.00 price target on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $255.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $255.00 price objective on shares of Norfolk Southern in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $274.55.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of NYSE NSC traded up $9.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $269.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,002,103 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,247,751. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $60.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $201.63 and a 12 month high of $290.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $250.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $241.17.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.03). Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 19.65% and a net margin of 27.40%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.49 EPS. The firm's revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,321,359 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $4,813,114,000 after purchasing an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 11,319,010 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $2,680,910,000 after purchasing an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,694,573 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $1,098,472,000 after purchasing an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $983,161,000 after purchasing an additional 138,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,998,335 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $947,006,000 after purchasing an additional 29,753 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.10% of the company's stock.

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.