Stock Update: Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) – U.S. Justice Dept urges rejection of CP, Norfolk Southern voting trust

[Reuters] – CHICAGO/WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday urged a regulator to reject a voting trust Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd has proposed as part of its takeover bid for Norfolk Southern Corp, saying it could hurt competition and would violate rules. In mid-November, CP disclosed a $28 billion offer for Norfolk, Virginia-based company, which has rebuffed all advances from the railroad, Canada’s second-largest. Canadian Pacific proposes sending its chief executive officer, Hunter Harrison, to run Norfolk Southern as part of that trust. Read more on this. Norfolk Southern Corporation (NSC) , currently valued at $24.01B, started the session at $80.65. Shares have traded today between $80.36 and $82.58 per share with its 52-week range being $64.51 to $107.31. NSC shares are currently priced at 14.97x this year’s forecasted earnings, which makes them relatively expensive compared to the industry’s 13.81x forward p/e ratio. The company pays shareholders $2.36 per share annually in dividends, yielding 2.91%. Consensus earnings for the current quarter by the 22 sell-side analysts covering the stock is an estimate of $0.98 per share, which would be $0.02 worse than the year-ago quarter and a $0.08 sequential decrease. Furthermore, our analysis shows the full-year EPS estimate to be $5.35, which would be a $0.25 improvement when compared to the last year’s annual results. The quarterly earnings estimate is predicated on a consensus revenue forecast of $2.40 Billion. If reported, that would be a 6.61% decrease over the year-ago quarter. In terms of ratings, Avondale upgraded NSC from Mkt Underperform to Mkt Perform (Jan 28, 2016). Previously, Buckingham Research downgraded NSC from Buy to Neutral. The average price target for NSC shares by the analysts covering the stock is $84.70, which is 5.02% above where the stock opened this morning. See more in (NYSE:NSC) Similar Articles: Company Update: Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) – Norfolk Southern to hold first-quarter 2016 earnings conference call April 21 Market Update: Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) – Norfolk Southern combines railway operating regions to streamline operations, drive profitability, and support quality service Market Update: Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) – Norfolk Southern to present at 31st Annual BB&T Transportation Services Conference on Feb. 10