CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $38.61.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CSX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on shares of CSX from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th.

CSX Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $34.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $65.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.19. CSX has a one year low of $30.00 and a one year high of $40.12. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.77% and a return on equity of 28.92%. CSX’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

About CSX

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.