Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 30,840 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 405 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CSX. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in CSX by 10.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,191,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $897,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,738 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in CSX by 3.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,340,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $748,471,000 after purchasing an additional 739,411 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in CSX by 1.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,307,242 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $655,198,000 after purchasing an additional 303,684 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in CSX by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,082,663 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $340,792,000 after purchasing an additional 56,856 shares during the period. Finally, Maj Invest Holding A S grew its stake in CSX by 19.8% in the third quarter. Maj Invest Holding A S now owns 8,383,233 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $257,785,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383,086 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $33.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.53. CSX Co. has a 52-week low of $29.03 and a 52-week high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on CSX shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James boosted their target price on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

CSX Profile

CSX Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services; and transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, as well as other transportation services, such as rail-to-truck transfers and bulk commodity operations. It also transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, automotive, forest products, fertilizers, and metals and equipment; and coal, coke, and iron ore to electricity-generating power plants, steel manufacturers, and industrial plants, as well as exports coal to deep-water port facilities.