Wells Fargo & Company Cuts CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Price Target to $31.00

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $34.00 to $31.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $36.75.

CSX Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of CSX stock opened at $29.11 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $31.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.20. The company has a market capitalization of $54.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CSX has a 12-month low of $28.98 and a 12-month high of $37.10.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. On average, analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.05%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of CSX by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,840,117,000 after purchasing an additional 455,258 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in CSX by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,339,555,000 after buying an additional 726,507 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $810,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,212 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CSX by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $805,345,000 after buying an additional 299,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter worth $780,194,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.