CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $38.78.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on CSX from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on CSX from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in CSX by 849.0% during the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 5,118,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,222,000 after acquiring an additional 4,579,344 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in CSX by 318.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,270,966 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $112,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,329 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in CSX by 3,243.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,192,246 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,331,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,668 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in shares of CSX by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,749,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,917,000 after buying an additional 1,884,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $539,112,000 after buying an additional 1,447,651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $32.57 on Thursday. CSX has a twelve month low of $31.43 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly 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). CSX had a net margin of 24.77% and a return on equity of 28.92%. The business had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that CSX will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

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.