CP vs NSC: Correlation
How closely do Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CP) and Norfolk Southern (NSC) trade together? Their weekly returns over three years give a correlation of 0.53, which is moderate.
Data as of 2026-08-27 · refreshed every trading day · weekly returns · methodology
How correlated are CP and NSC?
On 3 years of weekly data the CP/NSC correlation comes out at 0.53, moderate. Little has changed lately, as the 1-year reading of 0.61 lands near the 3-year figure. The 5-year figure is 0.60, and annualized covariance runs at 245.4 %².
Within CP's tracked universe of 10 assets, NSC comes in at #5 by 3-year correlation. Over the last 12 months NSC came out ahead by 7.1 percentage points (+22.9% against +30.0%).
How is this computed?
Pearson correlation on weekly returns: ρ(A,B) = cov(rA, rB) / (σA · σB), over windows of 52, 156 and 260 weeks. Covariance is annualized (×52) and expressed in %². Full definitions on the methodology page.
CP vs NSC: side by side
| CP (Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited) | NSC (Norfolk Southern) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1-year return | +22.9% | +30.0% |
| 5-year return | +35.4% | +49.6% |
| Volatility (ann.) | 20.9% | 22.0% |
| Beta vs S&P 500 | 0.51 | 0.69 |
| Max drawdown (3Y) | -25.9% | -25.1% |
| Market cap | $82.5B | $78.1B |
| P/E (trailing) | 30.5 | 30.1 |
| Dividend yield | 1.01% | 1.53% |
| Sector / category | US Listed | Industrials |
Year-by-year returns
| Year | CP | NSC |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +4.7% | -15.6% |
| 2023 | +6.8% | -1.6% |
| 2024 | -7.8% | +1.6% |
| 2025 | +2.4% | +25.6% |
| 2026 | +28.0% | +22.0% |
Calendar-year price returns; the current year is year-to-date as of the data date above.
Are CP and NSC good diversifiers for each other?
Somewhat, no more. With 0.53 correlation, most large moves hit both names, and the diversification benefit stays modest.
FAQ
What is the correlation between CP and NSC?
Using weekly returns as of 2026-08-27: 0.53 over 3 years, with 0.61 over the last year and 0.60 over 5 years.
Is NSC a good diversifier for CP?
Somewhat, no more. With 0.53 correlation, most large moves hit both names, and the diversification benefit stays modest.
What does a correlation of 0.53 mean?
On the −1 to +1 scale, 0.53 describes how much the two returns move together: +1 is lockstep, 0 is independence, negative values mean opposite directions. It says nothing about which performed better.
Use this data
$ curl https://www.pairbook.io/api/v1/pairs/cp-vs-nsc.json
Markdown for the live badge, attribution link included:
[](https://www.pairbook.io/pair/cp-vs-nsc/)
Free with attribution; caching and terms are described in the API documentation.
Related comparisons
Hubs: CP correlations · NSC correlations
