CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $33.86.

CSX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on CSX from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $34.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $32.00 price objective on CSX in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on CSX from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in CSX by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,339,555,000 after purchasing an additional 726,507 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of CSX by 21.6% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,383,830 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $835,336,000 after buying an additional 5,033,743 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in CSX by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,076,000 after buying an additional 2,977,212 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in CSX by 1.2% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in CSX in the 4th quarter worth $780,194,000. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Stock Up 0.6 %

CSX opened at $28.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.34 and a 200 day moving average of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CSX has a 12 month low of $26.22 and a 12 month high of $37.10. The company has a market cap of $52.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.14%.

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.