Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Forecast & Price Target

$221.65 -5.03 (-2.22%)

Closing price 04/25/2025 03:59 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$223.12 +1.47 (+0.67%)

As of 04/25/2025 07:03 PM Eastern

Norfolk Southern - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2025)

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

Consensus Rating

Moderate Buy

Based on 20 Analyst Ratings

Sell
1

Hold
7

Buy
12

Based on 20 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Norfolk Southern in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy." Out of the 20 analysts, 1 has given a sell rating, 7 have given a hold rating, and 12 have given a buy rating for NSC.

Consensus Price Target

$266.10
20.05% Upside

According to the 20 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Norfolk Southern, the average price target is $266.10. The highest price target for NSC is $293.00, while the lowest price target for NSC is $175.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 20.05% from the current price of $221.65.

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NSC Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 4/26/24 to 4/26/25	1 Month Ago 3/27/24 to 3/27/25	3 Months Ago 1/27/24 to 1/26/25	1 Year Ago 4/27/23 to 4/26/24
Strong Buy	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	12 Buy rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)
Hold	7 Hold rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)
Sell	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)	1 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$266.10	$274.84	$275.68	$262.32
Forecasted Upside	20.05% Upside	16.70% Upside	8.15% Upside	9.33% Upside
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy

NSC Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

NSC Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

Norfolk Southern Stock vs. The Competition

Type	Norfolk Southern	Transportation Companies	S&P 500
Consensus Rating Score	2.55	2.58	2.54
Consensus Rating	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	20.05% Upside	61.25% Upside	21.41% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent NSC News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

Export to Excel

Date	Brokerage	Analyst Name	Action	Rating	Price Target	Upside/Downside on Report Date
4/24/2025	BMO Capital Markets 4 of 5 stars	Fadi Chamoun Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Market Perform ➝ Market Perform	$255.00	+13.14%
4/24/2025	Royal Bank of Canada 4 of 5 stars	Walter Spracklin Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$271.00 ➝ $270.00	+18.94%
4/24/2025	UBS Group 3 of 5 stars	Thomas Wadewitz Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$284.00 ➝ $275.00	+20.80%
4/24/2025	Susquehanna Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Bascome Majors Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$260.00 ➝ $250.00	+11.78%
4/24/2025	Evercore ISI Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Jonathan Chappell Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$284.00 ➝ $269.00	+21.93%
4/14/2025	Stifel Nicolaus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Benjamin Nolan Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Hold ➝ Hold	$265.00 ➝ $247.00	+11.74%
4/9/2025	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Stephanie Moore Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$285.00 ➝ $260.00	+26.44%
4/8/2025	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	A. Rosa Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$298.00 ➝ $259.00	+25.82%
4/2/2025	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Brandon Oglenski Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight ➝ Overweight	$305.00 ➝ $290.00	+22.72%
3/27/2025	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Christian Wetherbee Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Overweight ➝ Overweight	$300.00 ➝ $290.00	+23.06%
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3/25/2025	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Ken Hoexter Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$292.00 ➝ $272.00	+15.20%
3/7/2025	Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Initiated Coverage	Hold ➝ Buy	$293.00	+22.51%
2/3/2025	Loop Capital Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Rick Paterson Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Downgrade	Buy ➝ Hold	$289.00 ➝ $256.00	+0.22%
1/30/2025	Robert W. Baird Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Garrett Holland Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Neutral ➝ Neutral	$260.00 ➝ $270.00	+4.33%
1/30/2025	Benchmark Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Nathan Martin Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Reiterated Rating	Buy ➝ Buy	$285.00 ➝ $285.00	+10.34%
1/30/2025	Stephens Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Daniel Imbro Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Equal Weight ➝ Equal Weight	$260.00 ➝ $275.00	+6.34%
1/30/2025	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Brian Ossenbeck Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Overweight ➝ Overweight	$284.00 ➝ $286.00	+10.59%
10/23/2024	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Hold ➝ Hold	$253.00 ➝ $259.00	+1.23%
10/9/2024	Sanford C. Bernstein Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Outperform ➝ Outperform	$285.00 ➝ $286.00	+16.94%
7/8/2024	Morgan Stanley Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Underweight	$175.00	-18.93%
3/21/2024	The Goldman Sachs Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Buy ➝ Buy	$252.00 ➝ $283.00	+9.11%
7/11/2023	Vertical Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Hold ➝ Buy	$260.00	+13.57%
4/27/2023	VNET Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the recommendation accuracy rating		Reiterated Rating	Maintains

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Saturday at 11:29 AM ET.

Should I Buy Norfolk Southern Stock? NSC Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Monday, April 21, 2025. Please send any questions or comments about these Norfolk Southern pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Norfolk Southern
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Norfolk Southern Co.:

The current stock price is around $220, which may present a buying opportunity for investors looking for value in the railroad sector.
Norfolk Southern Co. recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $3.04, exceeding analysts' expectations, indicating strong financial performance and potential for future growth.
The company has a solid net margin of over 21%, suggesting efficient management and profitability, which can lead to higher returns for shareholders.
With a dividend yield of approximately 2.45%, investors can benefit from regular income, making it an attractive option for those seeking dividend-paying stocks.
Insider buying activity, such as the recent purchase of shares by a director, can signal confidence in the company's future prospects, which may encourage other investors to consider buying in.

Norfolk Southern
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in Norfolk Southern Co. for these reasons:

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, indicating a relatively high level of debt compared to equity, which could pose risks in a rising interest rate environment.
Norfolk Southern Co. has experienced stock price fluctuations, with a 12-month high of $277.60 and a low of $201.63, suggesting volatility that may concern risk-averse investors.
The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 19.03 may indicate that the stock is overvalued compared to its earnings, which could deter value-focused investors.
With a current ratio of 0.90, the company may face challenges in meeting short-term liabilities, which could impact its financial stability.
Market analysts have mixed sentiments about the railroad sector's future, which could lead to uncertainty regarding Norfolk Southern Co.'s growth trajectory.

NSC Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

: According to the research reports of 20 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Norfolk Southern is $266.10, with a high forecast of $293.00 and a low forecast of $175.00.
: 20 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Norfolk Southern in the last twelve months. There is currently 1 sell rating, 7 hold ratings and 12 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "moderate buy" NSC shares.
: According to analysts, Norfolk Southern's stock has a predicted upside of 20.05% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.
: Over the previous 90 days, Norfolk Southern's stock had 1 downgrade by analysts.
: Norfolk Southern has been rated by research analysts at Bank of America, Barclays, Benchmark, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft, Evercore ISI, Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Loop Capital, Robert W. Baird, Royal Bank of Canada, Stephens, Stifel Nicolaus, Susquehanna, UBS Group, and Wells Fargo & Company in the past 90 days.
: Analysts like Norfolk Southern less than other "transportation" companies. The consensus rating score for Norfolk Southern is 2.55 while the average consensus rating score for "transportation" companies is 2.58. Learn more on how NSC compares to other companies.

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This page (NYSE:NSC) was last updated on 4/26/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff

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Norfolk Southern (NSC) Stock Forecast & Price Target