The railroad stock is pulling back to a pair of key trendlines
After touching an all-time high of $186.91 in mid-September, the shares of transportation concern Norfolk Southern Corp. (NYSE:NSC) pulled back with the broader equities market. The stock subsequently touched a short-term bottom on Oct. 23, and has bounced nicely from there. What's more, NSC is flashing a pair of historical buy signals on the charts, suggesting more upside could be in store for the equity.
Diving right in, NSC stock has been in an uptrend since early 2016, with retreats to the 160-day and 180-day moving averages marking attractive entry points for longs. What's more, the security is back within one standard deviation this trendline duo, after a lengthy stretch above it, and was last seen trading at $168.91.
Following similar pullbacks to the 160-day, the security was up an average of nearly 4% one month later, and was higher 86% of the time after seven signals, per data from Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White. Likewise, similar pullbacks to the 180-day preceded an average one-month gain of 5.13%, with a 100% positive rate after six signals.
Should the railroad stock once again chug higher, a round of upbeat analyst attention could propel NSC shares. Currently, more than half of the analysts following NSC maintain tepid "hold" or "strong sell" opinions. Plus, the consensus 12-month price target of $188.68 represents expected upside of just about 11% from the equity's current perch, leaving the door open for potential price-target hikes, too.