Norfolk Southern (NSC) Competitors

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, community ranking, institutional ownership, earnings, valuation, dividends, profitability and media sentiment.

Do analysts recommend UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific currently has a consensus target price of $259.67, suggesting a potential upside of 18.48%. Norfolk Southern has a consensus target price of $268.68, suggesting a potential upside of 24.60%. Given Norfolk Southern's higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Norfolk Southern is more favorable than Union Pacific.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Pacific	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.67
Norfolk Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.58

Which has preferable valuation and earnings, UNP or NSC?

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.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Union Pacific	$24.25B	5.42	$6.75B	$11.09	19.76
Norfolk Southern	$12.12B	4.39	$2.62B	$11.56	18.65

Does the media refer more to UNP or NSC?

In the previous week, Union Pacific had 15 more articles in the media than Norfolk Southern. MarketBeat recorded 54 mentions for Union Pacific and 39 mentions for Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern's average media sentiment score of 1.10 beat Union Pacific's score of 0.89 indicating that Norfolk Southern is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Union Pacific	26 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	19 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Norfolk Southern	25 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	6 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has more risk and volatility, UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norfolk Southern has a beta of 1.3, meaning that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in UNP or NSC?

80.4% of Union Pacific shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Union Pacific shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.2% of Norfolk Southern shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific received 436 more outperform votes than Norfolk Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.18% of users gave Union Pacific an outperform vote while only 57.79% of users gave Norfolk Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Union Pacific	Outperform Votes 1259 70.18%	Underperform Votes 535 29.82%
Norfolk Southern	Outperform Votes 823 57.79%	Underperform Votes 601 42.21%

Is UNP or NSC more profitable?

Union Pacific has a net margin of 27.82% compared to Norfolk Southern's net margin of 21.63%. Union Pacific's return on equity of 41.12% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Pacific	27.82%	41.12%	9.98%
Norfolk Southern	21.63%	20.04%	6.26%

Is UNP or NSC a better dividend stock?

Union Pacific pays an annual dividend of $5.36 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Union Pacific pays out 48.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Norfolk Southern pays out 46.7% 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 increased its dividend for 18 consecutive years. Norfolk Southern is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Union Pacific beats Norfolk Southern on 16 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.