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Norfolk Southern (NSC) Competitors

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$240.56 +1.14 (+0.48%)
As of 02:04 PM Eastern
This is a fair market value price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more.

NSC vs. UNP, CP, CNI, CSX, FIP, UPS, FDX, ODFL, WAB, and DAL

Should you be buying Norfolk Southern stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Norfolk Southern include Union Pacific (UNP), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Canadian National Railway (CNI), CSX (CSX), FTAI Infrastructure (FIP), United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx (FDX), Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies (WAB), and Delta Air Lines (DAL).

Norfolk Southern vs.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) and Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, risk, media sentiment, community ranking, institutional ownership, dividends, profitability and earnings.

In the previous week, Union Pacific had 24 more articles in the media than Norfolk Southern. MarketBeat recorded 63 mentions for Union Pacific and 39 mentions for Norfolk Southern. Union Pacific's average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Norfolk Southern's score of 1.09 indicating that Union Pacific is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment
Norfolk Southern
24 Very Positive mention(s)
0 Positive mention(s)
6 Neutral mention(s)
1 Negative mention(s)
1 Very Negative mention(s)
Positive
Union Pacific
43 Very Positive mention(s)
4 Positive mention(s)
6 Neutral mention(s)
2 Negative mention(s)
1 Very Negative mention(s)
Positive

75.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 80.4% of Union Pacific shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Union Pacific shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Union Pacific has higher revenue and earnings than Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Union Pacific, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings Ratio
Norfolk Southern$12.11B4.46$2.62B$14.6416.36
Union Pacific$24.25B5.51$6.75B$11.1020.16

Union Pacific has a net margin of 27.82% compared to Norfolk Southern's net margin of 21.63%. Union Pacific's return on equity of 41.12% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.

Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets
Norfolk Southern21.63% 20.04% 6.26%
Union Pacific 27.82%41.12%9.98%

Norfolk Southern has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its stock price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Pacific has a beta of 1.07, meaning that its stock price is 7% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus target price of $266.50, suggesting a potential upside of 11.29%. Union Pacific has a consensus target price of $257.50, suggesting a potential upside of 15.09%. Given Union Pacific's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Union Pacific is more favorable than Norfolk Southern.

Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score
Norfolk Southern
1 Sell rating(s)
7 Hold rating(s)
12 Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.55
Union Pacific
1 Sell rating(s)
5 Hold rating(s)
15 Buy rating(s)
2 Strong Buy rating(s)
2.78

Union Pacific received 441 more outperform votes than Norfolk Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.29% of users gave Union Pacific an outperform vote while only 57.79% of users gave Norfolk Southern an outperform vote.

CompanyUnderperformOutperform
Norfolk SouthernOutperform Votes
827
57.79%
Underperform Votes
604
42.21%
Union PacificOutperform Votes
1268
70.29%
Underperform Votes
536
29.71%

Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Union Pacific pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Norfolk Southern pays out 36.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Union Pacific pays out 48.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Union Pacific has increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Union Pacific is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Union Pacific beats Norfolk Southern on 18 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.

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New MarketBeat Followers Over Time

This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding {thisCompany.Symbol} and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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Media Sentiment Over Time

This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.
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NSC vs. The Competition

MetricNorfolk SouthernRailroads, line IndustryTransportation SectorNYSE Exchange
Market Cap$53.99B$55.57B$285.06B$19.41B
Dividend Yield2.19%1.90%3.78%3.83%
P/E Ratio20.7229.8313.7634.23
Price / Sales4.463.60264.2234.85
Price / Cash13.9713.8911.5417.51
Price / Book3.793.541.914.69
Net Income$2.62B$2.66B$512.32M$1.02B
7 Day Performance-1.92%-1.82%-1.86%-1.74%
1 Month Performance8.78%9.27%10.09%7.46%
1 Year Performance3.84%-8.56%-9.37%3.96%

Norfolk Southern Competitors List

CompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)
NSC
Norfolk Southern
4.3453 of 5 stars
$240.56
+0.5%
$266.50
+10.8%
+6.6%$54.23B$12.11B20.8119,300Positive News
Analyst Revision
Gap Up
UNP
Union Pacific
4.7618 of 5 stars
$229.42
-0.9%
$257.50
+12.2%
-4.8%$137.07B$24.25B20.6930,700Positive News
Analyst Revision
CP
Canadian Pacific Kansas City
4.2523 of 5 stars
$81.20
-0.4%
$90.63
+11.6%
-0.2%$75.55B$14.82B28.0011,800Positive News
Analyst Revision
CNI
Canadian National Railway
4.6401 of 5 stars
$107.10
-0.9%
$119.52
+11.6%
-16.2%$67.31B$17.20B20.9224,000News Coverage
Positive News
Analyst Downgrade
CSX
CSX
4.7384 of 5 stars
$31.15
-0.5%
$33.90
+8.8%
-7.8%$58.52B$14.28B17.4022,500Options Volume
FIP
FTAI Infrastructure
2.0334 of 5 stars
$5.02
-1.8%
$11.50
+129.1%
-39.5%$576.10M$345.12M-2.54600Positive News
Ex-Dividend
UPS
United Parcel Service
4.6031 of 5 stars
$98.95
-0.7%
$120.26
+21.5%
-34.1%$84.52B$90.91B14.64536,000Positive News
Ex-Dividend
FDX
FedEx
4.7512 of 5 stars
$225.60
-1.7%
$297.00
+31.6%
-14.0%$54.05B$87.82B14.38249,000Analyst Forecast
ODFL
Old Dominion Freight Line
3.9007 of 5 stars
$170.86
-0.2%
$182.26
+6.7%
-6.4%$36.11B$5.73B31.1823,500Dividend Announcement
WAB
Westinghouse Air Brake Technologies
3.3522 of 5 stars
$207.15
+0.7%
$211.83
+2.3%
+18.0%$35.45B$10.50B34.3527,000Dividend Announcement
Analyst Revision
DAL
Delta Air Lines
4.9229 of 5 stars
$51.04
+0.2%
$62.08
+21.6%
-7.6%$33.33B$61.94B9.5895,000Positive News
Analyst Upgrade

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This page (NYSE:NSC) was last updated on 5/22/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
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