Norfolk Southern vs Union Pacific
NSC and UNP side by side, both in industrials. Figures are trailing twelve months unless noted, from SEC filings and end-of-day prices.
How NSC and UNP compare
Union Pacific is the larger company, worth 2.3 times as much as Norfolk Southern ($181B against $77.0B).
On earnings, Union Pacific is cheaper: it trades at 24.6× trailing earnings, against 29.3× for Norfolk Southern.
Union Pacific grew revenue faster over the last twelve months (4.2% versus 3.0% for Norfolk Southern).
Union Pacific keeps more of each dollar of sales as profit, with a net margin of 28.8% compared with 21.0% at Norfolk Southern.
Both pay dividends: Norfolk Southern yields 1.6% and Union Pacific 1.8%.
Union Pacific scores higher on the StockData Score (14 against 11 for Norfolk Southern), 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 | NSC | UNP |
|---|---|---|
| Size and price | ||
| Market cap | $77.0B | $181B |
| Share price | $342.64 | $304.00 |
| Change, 1 year | 22.6% | 40.5% |
| Change, 5 years | 20.7% | 27.3% |
| Beta (5Y) | 0.77 | 0.66 |
| Employees | 19K | 32K |
| StockData Score | ||
| Total score | 11 | 14 (better) |
| Valuation score | 0 | 0 |
| Growth score | 0 | 0 |
| Performance score | 5 | 6 (better) |
| Health score | 2 | 4 (better) |
| Dividend score | 4 | 4 |
| Valuation | ||
| P/E | 29.3× | 24.6× (better) |
| P/S | 6.1× (better) | 7.1× |
| P/B | 4.7× (better) | 8.7× |
| EV/EBITDA | 17.0× (better) | 20.6× |
| P/FCF | 47.2× | 27.8× (better) |
| PEG | – | 10.99 |
| FCF yield | 2.1% | 3.6% (better) |
| Fair value | $245.23 | $231.58 |
| Margin of safety | −39.7% | −31.3% (better) |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth (TTM) | 3.0% | 4.2% (better) |
| Revenue growth, 5Y average | 4.5% | 4.6% (better) |
| Net income growth (TTM) | −21.3% | 5.7% (better) |
| EPS growth (TTM) | −20.9% | 7.3% (better) |
| EPS growth, 5Y average | 10.2% (better) | 8.7% |
| Profitability | ||
| Operating margin | 32.2% | 40.0% (better) |
| Net margin | 21.0% | 28.8% (better) |
| FCF margin | 13.0% | 25.6% (better) |
| Return on equity | 17.0% | 39.7% (better) |
| Return on invested capital | 10.1% | 16.1% (better) |
| Financial health | ||
| Debt / equity | 1.02 (better) | 1.47 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 2.85 | 2.82 (better) |
| Interest coverage | 5.1× | 7.9× (better) |
| Current ratio | 0.83 | 0.99 (better) |
| Altman Z-score | 2.59 | 4.38 (better) |
| Piotroski F-score | 6 | 8 (better) |
| Dividends and buybacks | ||
| Dividend yield | 1.6% | 1.8% (better) |
| Payout ratio | 46.0% | 44.7% |
| Years of dividend growth | 0 | 16 (better) |
| Dividend growth, 5Y average | 7.5% (better) | 7.0% |
| Buyback yield | 0.11% (better) | 0.01% |
| Shareholder yield | 1.7% | 1.8% (better) |
| Ownership | ||
| Held by institutions | 76.1% | 89.2% |
| Held by insiders | 0.05% | 0.13% |
| Insider net buying, 12 months | $274K (better) | −$9.3M |
| Superinvestors holding | 2 | 8 (better) |
| Short interest, % of float | 3.2% | 4.7% |
Go deeper
- NSC stock overview
- NSC income statement
- NSC valuation and score
- UNP stock overview
- UNP income statement
- UNP valuation and score
Other comparisons
For information only, not investment advice. Check the source filings before relying on any figure.