Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) is a transportation company that operates one of the largest rail networks in the eastern United States. Through its principal subsidiary, Norfolk Southern Railway, the company provides freight rail transportation and related services for industrial, agricultural and consumer markets.

Norfolk Southern’s network serves 22 states and the District of Columbia, connecting major ports, manufacturing centers and distribution hubs across the East Coast and the Midwest. Its freight portfolio includes intermodal shipments, automotive products, coal, chemicals, metals and construction materials, agriculture and consumer products, and forest products. The company also supports customers through logistics services, terminal operations and connections with other railroads and transportation providers.

Norfolk Southern Railway was created in 1982 through the consolidation of Southern Railway and Norfolk and Western Railway, two railroads with histories dating back to the 19th century. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and its rail infrastructure includes main lines, branch lines, terminals and intermodal facilities designed to support regional and long-distance freight movement.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $311.66 to $318.29
• 50-Day Range: $309.47 to $352.91
• 52-Week Range: $277.80 to $358.60
• Volume: 1.11 million shs
• Average Volume: 993,076 shs
• Market Capitalization: $71.25 billion
• P/E Ratio: 27.06
• Dividend Yield: 1.70%
• Price Target: $350.00
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Norfolk Southern Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Norfolk Southern scored higher than 69% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 324th out of 651 stocks in the industrials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Norfolk Southern has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.33, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 7 buy ratings, 14 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Norfolk Southern has a consensus price target of $350.00, representing about 10.3% upside from its current price of $317.20.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Norfolk Southern has been the subject of 13 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 7.77%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Norfolk Southern are expected to grow by 7.77% in the coming year, from $12.87 to $13.87 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Norfolk Southern is 27.06, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 38.90.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Norfolk Southern is 27.06, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Industrials sector average P/E ratio of about 25.44.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Norfolk Southern has a PEG Ratio of 4.59. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Norfolk Southern has a P/B Ratio of 4.58. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.40% of the float of Norfolk Southern has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Norfolk Southern has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 6.16.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Norfolk Southern has recently increased by 32.82%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing significantly.

Dividend

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Moderate

Dividend Yield

Norfolk Southern pays a meaningful dividend of 1.75%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Norfolk Southern does not have a long track record of dividend growth.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Norfolk Southern is 46.08%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Norfolk Southern will have a dividend payout ratio of 38.93% next year. This indicates that Norfolk Southern will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.43

News Sentiment

Norfolk Southern has a news sentiment score of 0.43. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.53 average news sentiment score of Industrials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 14 news articles for Norfolk Southern this week, compared to 7 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

9 people have searched for NSC on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 29% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 3 people have added Norfolk Southern to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -25% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Norfolk Southern insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.08% of the stock of Norfolk Southern is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

75.10% of the stock of Norfolk Southern is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/23/2026
• Record date for 8/20 Dividend: 8/07/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 8/20 Dividend: 8/07/2026
• Dividend Payable: 8/20/2026
• Today: 10/02/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/22/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Industrials
• Industry: Ground Transportation
• Sub-Industry: Rail Transportation
• Current Symbol: NYSE:NSC
• CIK: 702165
• Web: www.norfolksouthern.com
• Phone: (855) 667-3655
• Fax: 757-629-2361
• Employees: 19,300
• Year Founded: 1827

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Norfolk Southern: $350.00
• High Price Target: $400.00
• Low Price Target: $297.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +10.3%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.33
• Research Coverage: 21 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $11.72
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 27.06
• Forward P/E Ratio: 24.65
• P/E Growth: 4.59
• Net Income: $2.87 billion
• Net Margins: 21.02%
• Pretax Margin: 26.82%
• Return on Equity: 18.21%
• Return on Assets: 6.34%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.98
• Current Ratio: 0.83
• Quick Ratio: 0.73

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $12.18 billion
• Price / Sales: 5.85
• Cash Flow: $19.26 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 16.47
• Book Value: $69.29 per share
• Price / Book: 4.58

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 224,610,000
• Free Float: 224,428,000
• Market Cap: $71.25 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 1.29