As it continues to put up strong profit and sales growth figures, Norfolk Southern railroad sped into a new stock strength rating percentile Monday. Its IBD Relative Strength (RS) Rating climbed to 83, up from 75 the day before. Norfolk Southern stock slid 1.3% Monday to 280.75 amid market consolidation.
The new 83 RS Rating means that Norfolk Southern stock has outperformed 83% of all stocks over the past year. Research shows that the best stocks typically have an RS Rating north of 80 in the early stages of their moves.
Norfolk Southern Stock In Top Tier Overall
Among its other key ratings Norfolk Southern stock boasts a 92 Composite Rating, putting it in the top 8% of all stocks overall. The Atlanta-based railroad's 87 EPS Rating, of 99, reflects strong recent and long-term profit growth.
The company posted 18% EPS growth last quarter, to $3.12 per share. In the March 31, 2021 ended quarter it reported a tiny 4% EPS gain. However, the next two quarters it reported 114% growth, then 22%. Sales last quarter rose 11% to $2.85 billion.
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Norfolk Southern stock is building a cup without handle with a 299.30 entry. See if the stock can break out in heavy trading.
Norfolk Southern stock holds the No. 3 rank among its peers in the Transportation-Rail industry group. Union Pacific and CSX are also among the group's highest-rated stocks. As reported today in IBD, although the market is down again, CSX climbed above a 38.11 buy point of a cup base in heavy volume. It was recently added to IBD Leaderboard. CSX fell 0.5% to 37.24 in Monday afternoon trading. Union Pacific was down 0.3% to 263.95. The railroad group ranks a strong No. 36 on the list of 197 industries that IBD tracks.
When looking for the best stocks to buy and watch, one factor to watch closely is relative price strength.
IBD's unique Relative Strength Rating identifies technical performance by using a 1 (worst) to 99 (best) score that shows how a stock's price action over the last 52 weeks matches up against the rest of the market.
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