Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,680,000 shares, a decline of 19.6% from the March 15th total of 2,090,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

NSC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. UBS Group raised Norfolk Southern from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Norfolk Southern from $252.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Norfolk Southern from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $272.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Finally, TheStreet upgraded Norfolk Southern from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $262.33.

Norfolk Southern Price Performance

NSC stock traded down $3.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $245.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,090,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 997,737. Norfolk Southern has a 12 month low of $183.09 and a 12 month high of $263.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $253.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.42.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.09 billion. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 21.06% and a net margin of 15.03%. The firm's revenue was down 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.42 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Norfolk Southern will post 12.02 EPS for the current year.

Norfolk Southern Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 20th. Investors of record on Friday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.35 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 1st. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. Norfolk Southern's payout ratio is presently 67.33%.

Institutional Trading of Norfolk Southern

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC grew its position in Norfolk Southern by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Axiom Financial Strategies LLC now owns 852 shares of the railroad operator's stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Norfolk Southern during the 1st quarter worth $81,000. United Bank grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 7,581 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,162,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,640 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $2,464,000 after buying an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Norfolk Southern by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,946 shares of the railroad operator's stock worth $555,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.