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 contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, earnings and community ranking.

Is UNP or NSC more profitable?

Union Pacific has a net margin of 27.33% compared to Norfolk Southern's net margin of 19.85%. Union Pacific's return on equity of 41.79% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Pacific	27.33%	41.79%	9.84%
Norfolk Southern	19.85%	20.25%	6.22%

Do institutionals and insiders believe 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 hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific has higher revenue and earnings than Norfolk Southern. Union Pacific is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Norfolk Southern, 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	$24.12B	6.09	$6.38B	$10.89	22.26
Norfolk Southern	$12.16B	5.01	$1.83B	$10.65	25.25

Does the MarketBeat Community favor UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific received 434 more outperform votes than Norfolk Southern when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.16% of users gave Union Pacific an outperform vote while only 57.67% of users gave Norfolk Southern an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Union Pacific	Outperform Votes 1246 70.16%	Underperform Votes 530 29.84%
Norfolk Southern	Outperform Votes 812 57.67%	Underperform Votes 596 42.33%

Which has more volatility & risk, UNP or NSC?

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

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 2.2%. Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Union Pacific pays out 49.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Norfolk Southern pays out 50.7% 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. Union Pacific is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the media favor UNP or NSC?

In the previous week, Union Pacific had 21 more articles in the media than Norfolk Southern. MarketBeat recorded 42 mentions for Union Pacific and 21 mentions for Norfolk Southern. Union Pacific's average media sentiment score of 1.21 beat Norfolk Southern's score of 0.88 indicating that Union Pacific is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Union Pacific	35 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Norfolk Southern	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts prefer UNP or NSC?

Union Pacific currently has a consensus price target of $259.80, indicating a potential upside of 7.18%. Norfolk Southern has a consensus price target of $275.68, indicating a potential upside of 2.50%. Given Union Pacific's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Union Pacific is more favorable than Norfolk Southern.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Pacific	0 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	11 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.65
Norfolk Southern	1 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.63

Summary

Union Pacific beats Norfolk Southern on 19 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.