Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 21.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 489,887 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 86,451 shares during the period. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $16,916,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSX. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in CSX during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.61.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSX traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $36.35. The stock had a trading volume of 1,465,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,693,240. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.84. CSX Co. has a 52 week low of $30.30 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.77% and a return on equity of 28.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

CSX Profile

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.