Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) Cut to "Neutral" at Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $288.00 price objective on the railroad operator's stock, up from their previous price objective of $259.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on NSC. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Norfolk Southern from $258.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Baird R W raised Norfolk Southern to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Susquehanna reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $260.00 price target (up from $250.00) on shares of Norfolk Southern in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $284.00 to $269.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $260.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $273.80.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

Shares of NSC traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $266.47. 1,718,349 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,237,390. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.07 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 1.31. Norfolk Southern has a fifty-two week low of $201.63 and a fifty-two week high of $277.60. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $247.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $240.67.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The railroad operator reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.49 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Norfolk Southern will post 13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 2nd were given a $1.35 dividend. This represents a $5.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 2nd. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is 36.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Norfolk Southern

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 1.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 232,195 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 31.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,710,930 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 113,648 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,159,070 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $983,161,000 after acquiring an additional 138,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EdgePoint Investment Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Norfolk Southern by 0.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 29,753 shares during the last quarter. 75.10% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.