Norfolk Southern price target raised to $301 from $292 at Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs raised the firm’s price target on Norfolk Southern (NSC) to $301 from $292 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after its Q3 earnings beat. The firm maintains that the company has the potential to improve margins by the greatest magnitude of all Class 1 rails over the near-to-medium term given that it is coming from the worst level relative to its peers, and the 480 bps of sequential margin improvement in Q2 and now 170bps of sequential improvement in Q3 is “certainly a step in the right direction”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Norfolk Southern’s most recent week’s carloads were back up about 4% vs. last year, and its operating ratio gap should continue to narrow over comparable Eastern network geographies, the firm added.