CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Shares Gap Down After Earnings Miss

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $35.47, but opened at $33.94. CSX shares last traded at $33.76, with a volume of 3,043,252 shares traded.

The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 24.52%. CSX’s revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on CSX from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup started coverage on CSX in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their target price on CSX from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.61.

Institutional Trading of CSX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSX. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in CSX during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $66.70 billion, a PE ratio of 18.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $34.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.97.

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.