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

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eight have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $38.80.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $36.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of CSX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of CSX by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,807,961 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,246,893,000 after purchasing an additional 9,914,656 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in CSX by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 40,353,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,399,104,000 after buying an additional 5,041,679 shares in the last quarter. Interval Partners LP raised its position in CSX by 849.0% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 5,118,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $171,222,000 after buying an additional 4,579,344 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $116,430,000. Finally, M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of CSX in the first quarter valued at about $126,089,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $34.02 on Tuesday. CSX has a 52 week low of $29.03 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The company has a market capitalization of $66.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.01. CSX had a net margin of 24.52% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that CSX will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. CSX’s payout ratio is 26.37%.

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.