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

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, RTT News reports. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%.

Norfolk Southern has raised its dividend by an average of 12.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 3 years. Norfolk Southern has a dividend payout ratio of 38.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Performance

NYSE:NSC traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $245.03. 1,115,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,265,385. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $252.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.71. Norfolk Southern has a 1 year low of $183.09 and a 1 year high of $263.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 26th. The railroad operator reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.87 by ($0.04). Norfolk Southern had a net margin of 15.03% and a return on equity of 21.06%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.09 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Norfolk Southern will post 11.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group raised Norfolk Southern from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $238.00 to $302.00 in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays raised Norfolk Southern from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $255.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $236.00 to $253.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $250.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.74.

About Norfolk Southern

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.