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

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $36.20.

Several research firms recently weighed in on CSX. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

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

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock opened at $27.21 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.04. The firm has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22. 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 $26.95 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 anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.05%.

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.