First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Increases Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,775 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 5,808 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in CSX in the 3rd quarter valued at $298,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CSX by 132.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 757,749 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $23,301,000 after buying an additional 432,387 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its position in CSX by 71.5% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 103,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 43,197 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of CSX by 15.6% in the third quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 1,861,535 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $57,242,000 after acquiring an additional 250,569 shares during the period. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 43,960 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 2,931 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.59.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $33.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.59 billion, a PE ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $33.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.11. CSX Co. has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. CSX’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. Analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.37%.

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.