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

Norfolk Southern Co. (NYSE:NSC) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 28th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 1.35 per share by the railroad operator on Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th.

Norfolk Southern has raised its dividend payment by an average of 9.1% per year over the last three years. Norfolk Southern has a dividend payout ratio of 35.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Norfolk Southern to earn $13.21 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 40.9%.

Norfolk Southern Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NSC opened at $256.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $249.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $248.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.11, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a current ratio of 0.73. Norfolk Southern has a one year low of $206.71 and a one year high of $277.60.

Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The railroad operator reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.07. Norfolk Southern had a return on equity of 20.25% and a net margin of 19.85%. Equities research analysts forecast that Norfolk Southern will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Norfolk Southern news, Director Sameh Fahmy acquired 350 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $249.37 per share, for a total transaction of $87,279.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 10,350 shares in the company, valued at $2,580,979.50. The trade was a 3.50 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.19% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on NSC shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Norfolk Southern from $241.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on Norfolk Southern from $289.00 to $309.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Norfolk Southern from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $302.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Norfolk Southern from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.39.

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.