Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Plans $1.35 Quarterly Dividend

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 3rd will be given a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Monday, May 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.20%.

Norfolk Southern has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.8% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 3 consecutive years. Norfolk Southern has a payout ratio of 38.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $13.58 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 39.8%.

Norfolk Southern Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:NSC traded up $0.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $245.03. The company had a trading volume of 1,114,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,265,471. The stock has a market cap of $60.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $183.09 and a one year high of $263.66. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $232.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. Norfolk Southern's revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Norfolk Southern from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $272.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $240.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Benchmark increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $261.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $262.74.

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.