CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.19.

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of CSX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $34.96 on Friday. CSX has a 1 year low of $29.03 and a 1 year high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $68.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.16.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.70 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 24.52%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 26.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CSX during the first quarter worth $29,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CSX in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in CSX in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in CSX by 172.7% during the 1st quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 938 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.