CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.98.

CSX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of CSX from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. New Street Research set a $49.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd.

CSX Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of CSX stock opened at $46.44 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.22. CSX has a 1-year low of $31.64 and a 1-year high of $47.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.50 billion. CSX had a net margin of 21.55% and a return on equity of 24.47%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. CSX’s payout ratio is 34.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at CSX

In other news, CEO Stephen F. Angel bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $40.27 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 146,540 shares in the company, valued at $5,901,165.80. This represents a 20.57% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CSX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cohen & Steers Inc. increased its holdings in CSX by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,282,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $300,226,000 after acquiring an additional 98,977 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 3,450,199 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $122,516,000 after acquiring an additional 8,639 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 81.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 944,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,555,000 after acquiring an additional 425,395 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 423,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,345,000 after acquiring an additional 18,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 238,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,803,000 after acquiring an additional 15,310 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.

CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.