CSX vs Norfolk Southern
CSX and NSC side by side, both in industrials. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How CSX and NSC compare
CSX is the larger company, worth 1.3 times as much as Norfolk Southern ($96.3B against $77.0B).
On earnings, Norfolk Southern is cheaper: it trades at 29.3× trailing earnings, against 30.1× for CSX.
Norfolk Southern grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (3.0% versus 2.5% for CSX).
CSX keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 22.2% compared with 21.0% at Norfolk Southern.
Both pay dividends: CSX yields 1.1% and Norfolk Southern 1.6%.
Norfolk Southern scores higher on the StockData Score (11 against 9 for CSX), which adds up 30 checks on valuation, growth, past performance, financial health and dividends.
Key numbers
A dot marks the better figure where higher or lower is clearly better.
| Metric | CSX | NSC |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $96.3B | $77.0B |
| Share price | $51.99 | $342.64 |
| Change, 1 year | 47.3% | 22.6% |
| Change, 5 years | 46.8% | 20.7% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.75 | 0.77 |
| Employees | 23K | 19K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 9 | 11 (better) |
| Valuation score | 0 | 0 |
| Growth score | 1 (better) | 0 |
| Performance score | 2 | 5 (better) |
| Health score | 2 | 2 |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 30.1× | 29.3× (better) |
| P/S | 6.6× | 6.1× (better) |
| P/B | – | 4.7× |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.2× | 17.0× (better) |
| P/FCF | 34.4× (better) | 47.2× |
| FCF yield | 2.9% (better) | 2.1% |
| Fair value | $34.73 | $245.23 |
| Margin of safety | −49.7% | −39.7% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 2.5% | 3.0% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 5.9% (better) | 4.5% |
| Net income growth (TTM) | 3.9% (better) | −21.3% |
| EPS growth (TTM) | 6.8% (better) | −20.9% |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 5.1% | 10.2% (better) |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 34.2% (better) | 32.2% |
| Net margin | 22.2% (better) | 21.0% |
| FCF margin | 19.3% (better) | 13.0% |
| Return on equity | – | 17.0% |
| Return on invested capital | – | 10.1% |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | – | 1.02 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.64 (better) | 2.85 |
| Interest coverage | 5.9× (better) | 5.1× |
| Current ratio | 0.82 | 0.83 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 2.91 (better) | 2.59 |
| Piotroski F-score | 5 | 6 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.1% | 1.6% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 31.2% | 46.0% |
| Years of dividend growth | 6 (better) | 0 |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 8.2% (better) | 7.5% |
| Buyback yield | 0.77% (better) | 0.11% |
| Shareholder yield | 1.8% (better) | 1.7% |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 79.5% | 76.1% |
| Held by insiders | 0.23% | 0.05% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | −$15.6M | $274K (better) |
| Superinvestors holding | 1 | 2 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 2.3% | 3.2% |
Go deeper
- CSX stock overview
- CSX income statement
- CSX valuation and score
- NSC stock overview
- NSC income statement
- NSC valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.