CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eighteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.8333.

A number of research firms have issued reports on CSX. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of CSX from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of CSX from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised CSX from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 25th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Stephen F. Angel acquired 55,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.87 per share, with a total value of $2,027,850.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 58,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,147,087.58. The trade was a 1,700.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kevin S. Boone sold 31,053 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.09, for a total transaction of $1,120,702.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 197,521 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,128,532.89. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in CSX by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of CSX by 9.3% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 262,505 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,726,000 after acquiring an additional 22,367 shares in the last quarter. Rossmore Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of CSX by 4.5% in the first quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 23,921 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of CSX by 8.1% during the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 635,585 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,674,000 after purchasing an additional 47,562 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. National Pension Service now owns 5,368,009 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $157,981,000 after purchasing an additional 535,663 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

CSX Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of CSX opened at $37.18 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $35.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.30, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.30. CSX has a 52 week low of $26.22 and a 52 week high of $37.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.85.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.60 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.95% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.99%.

CSX Company 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.