NSC vs. UNP, CP, CNI, CSX, RVSN, UPS, FDX, WAB, ODFL, 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), Rail Vision (RVSN), United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx (FDX), Wabtec (WAB), Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL), and Delta Air Lines (DAL). These companies are all part of the "transportation" sector.
Norfolk Southern vs. Its Competitors
Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) and Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their media sentiment, dividends, earnings, institutional ownership, risk, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.
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 large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock 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.
In the previous week, Union Pacific had 30 more articles in the media than Norfolk Southern. MarketBeat recorded 55 mentions for Union Pacific and 25 mentions for Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.09 beat Union Pacific's score of 0.96 indicating that Norfolk Southern is being referred to more favorably in the media.
Union Pacific has a net margin of 27.76% compared to Norfolk Southern's net margin of 27.40%. Union Pacific's return on equity of 40.80% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.
Norfolk Southern currently has a consensus target price of $267.71, indicating a potential upside of 4.45%. Union Pacific has a consensus target price of $258.39, indicating a potential upside of 12.20%. Given Union Pacific's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Union Pacific is more favorable than Norfolk Southern.
Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.1%. Union Pacific pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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 raised 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.
Norfolk Southern has a beta of 1.32, meaning that its stock price is 32% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Union Pacific has a beta of 1.05, meaning that its stock price is 5% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
Union Pacific beats Norfolk Southern on 16 of the 20 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 NSC and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period.
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.
Norfolk Southern Competitors List
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This page (NYSE:NSC) was last updated on 6/30/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff
