Norfolk Southern (NSC) Competitors

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of CSX or NSC?

73.6% of CSX shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of CSX shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is CSX or NSC more profitable?

Norfolk Southern has a net margin of 27.51% compared to CSX's net margin of 21.92%. CSX's return on equity of 25.48% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
CSX	21.92%	25.48%	7.41%
Norfolk Southern	27.51%	19.35%	6.35%

Which has higher valuation and earnings, CSX or NSC?

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

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
CSX	$14.16B	4.67	$3.47B	$1.62	21.87
Norfolk Southern	$12.12B	5.18	$2.62B	$14.80	18.91

Do analysts prefer CSX or NSC?

CSX currently has a consensus price target of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 4.43%. Norfolk Southern has a consensus price target of $285.15, indicating a potential upside of 1.91%. Given CSX's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe CSX is more favorable than Norfolk Southern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
CSX	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	15 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.77
Norfolk Southern	0 Sell rating(s)	14 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has more volatility and risk, CSX or NSC?

CSX has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its share price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norfolk Southern has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to CSX or NSC?

In the previous week, CSX had 19 more articles in the media than Norfolk Southern. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for CSX and 26 mentions for Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.37 beat CSX's score of 1.04 indicating that Norfolk Southern is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
CSX	28 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Norfolk Southern	22 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is CSX or NSC a better dividend stock?

CSX pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. CSX pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Norfolk Southern pays out 36.5% 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. CSX has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years.

Summary

CSX beats Norfolk Southern on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.