Norfolk Southern (NSC) Competitors $274.57 -3.43 (-1.23%) Closing price 08/1/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$274.48 -0.09 (-0.03%) As of 08/1/2025 07:58 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock NSC vs. CSX, JBHT, CNI, CP, UNP, UPS, RVSN, FDX, DAL, and ODFLShould you be buying Norfolk Southern stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Norfolk Southern include CSX (CSX), J.B. Hunt Transport Services (JBHT), Canadian National Railway (CNI), Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP), Union Pacific (UNP), United Parcel Service (UPS), Rail Vision (RVSN), FedEx (FDX), Delta Air Lines (DAL), and Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL). These companies are all part of the "transportation" sector. Norfolk Southern vs. Its Competitors CSX J.B. Hunt Transport Services Canadian National Railway Canadian Pacific Kansas City Union Pacific United Parcel Service Rail Vision FedEx Delta Air Lines Old Dominion Freight Line CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC) are both large-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk, media sentiment, analyst recommendations and earnings. Does the media favor CSX or NSC? In the previous week, Norfolk Southern had 38 more articles in the media than CSX. MarketBeat recorded 85 mentions for Norfolk Southern and 47 mentions for CSX. CSX's average media sentiment score of 0.96 beat Norfolk Southern's score of 0.62 indicating that CSX is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment CSX 30 Very Positive mention(s) 8 Positive mention(s) 8 Neutral mention(s) 1 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Norfolk Southern 33 Very Positive mention(s) 11 Positive mention(s) 29 Neutral mention(s) 2 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do analysts recommend CSX or NSC? CSX currently has a consensus target price of $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.68%. Norfolk Southern has a consensus target price of $285.15, indicating a potential upside of 3.85%. Given CSX's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe CSX is more favorable than Norfolk Southern.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score CSX 0 Sell rating(s) 6 Hold rating(s) 15 Buy rating(s) 1 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.77Norfolk Southern 0 Sell rating(s) 14 Hold rating(s) 7 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.33 Is CSX or NSC a better dividend stock? CSX pays an annual dividend of $0.52 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Norfolk Southern pays an annual dividend of $5.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. CSX pays out 32.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Norfolk Southern pays out 36.5% 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. CSX has increased its dividend for 21 consecutive years. Is CSX or NSC more profitable? Norfolk Southern has a net margin of 27.51% compared to CSX's net margin of 21.92%. CSX's return on equity of 25.48% beat Norfolk Southern's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets CSX21.92% 25.48% 7.41% Norfolk Southern 27.51%19.35%6.35% Which has higher earnings and valuation, CSX or NSC? CSX has higher revenue and earnings than Norfolk Southern. Norfolk Southern is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than CSX, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioCSX$14.54B4.49$3.47B$1.6221.61Norfolk Southern$12.18B5.06$2.62B$14.8018.55 Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in CSX or NSC? 73.6% of CSX shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 75.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of CSX shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.1% of Norfolk Southern shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth. Which has more volatility & risk, CSX or NSC? CSX has a beta of 1.25, meaning that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Norfolk Southern has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its stock price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500. SummaryCSX beats Norfolk Southern on 13 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Norfolk Southern News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for NSC and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding NSC and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart NSC vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricNorfolk SouthernTRANS IndustryTransportation SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$62.44B$44.66B$7.13B$20.69BDividend Yield1.94%2.07%706.15%3.67%P/E Ratio18.5512.1512.9329.07Price / Sales5.065.06527.9566.55Price / Cash15.5721.897.6622.84Price / Book4.172.752.064.43Net Income$2.62B$2.47B$574.24M$994.22M7 Day Performance-2.89%-1.36%-5.20%-3.35%1 Month Performance4.81%-0.14%-2.14%-2.06%1 Year Performance12.82%-0.03%-2.64%10.15% Norfolk Southern Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)NSCNorfolk Southern4.1731 of 5 stars$274.57-1.2%$285.15+3.9%+11.5%$62.44B$12.18B18.5519,600Trending NewsEarnings ReportAnalyst DowngradeCSXCSX4.5406 of 5 stars$35.71-0.1%$37.00+3.6%+0.7%$66.57B$14.16B22.0423,500Trending NewsJBHTJ.B. Hunt Transport Services4.865 of 5 stars$148.39-0.6%$164.90+11.1%-17.3%$14.72B$12.09B26.9833,646Analyst RevisionCNICanadian National Railway4.7277 of 5 stars$95.04-0.9%$118.36+24.5%-18.0%$59.54B$12.44B18.2825,428CPCanadian Pacific Kansas City4.5035 of 5 stars$75.92-1.3%$91.95+21.1%-9.3%$69.69B$10.62B25.6519,797Trending NewsDividend IncreaseAnalyst UpgradeOptions VolumeAnalyst RevisionUNPUnion Pacific4.7455 of 5 stars$229.29+2.0%$259.46+13.2%-10.2%$137.00B$24.25B19.9232,439Trending NewsAnalyst DowngradeShort Interest ↑High Trading VolumeUPSUnited Parcel Service4.9549 of 5 stars$101.38-2.1%$118.22+16.6%-35.3%$85.85B$90.91B14.78490,000Trending NewsEarnings ReportAnalyst ForecastInsider TradeShort Interest ↑RVSNRail Vision0.8082 of 5 stars$0.37-1.6%N/A-41.1%$19.06M$1.30M-0.0860FDXFedEx4.9124 of 5 stars$242.48-0.3%$283.25+16.8%-27.1%$57.20B$87.93B14.36440,000News CoveragePositive NewsDALDelta Air Lines4.9072 of 5 stars$55.62+1.4%$66.21+19.0%+23.3%$36.32B$61.64B8.06100,000Trending NewsAnalyst RevisionGap DownODFLOld Dominion Freight Line4.2514 of 5 stars$164.32-1.7%$174.85+6.4%-30.2%$34.72B$5.81B30.8321,895Trending NewsEarnings ReportAnalyst Upgrade Related Companies and Tools Related Companies CSX Competitors JBHT Competitors CNI Competitors CP Competitors UNP Competitors UPS Competitors RVSN Competitors FDX Competitors DAL Competitors ODFL Competitors Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:NSC) was last updated on 8/2/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersIs Elon's empire crumbling?The Tesla Shock Nobody Sees Coming While headlines scream "Tesla is doomed"... 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