Mizuho Securities USA LLC Trims Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC cut its position in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 16.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,717 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 25,019 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $4,341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in CSX by 0.7% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 65,251,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,418,883,000 after purchasing an additional 443,755 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in CSX by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,133,857 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $573,128,000 after buying an additional 1,060,204 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in CSX by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,421,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $415,466,000 after buying an additional 1,060,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in CSX by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,749,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in CSX by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,521,214 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,178,000 after acquiring an additional 146,973 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CSX Stock Up 2.1 %

CSX stock opened at $35.31 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CSX Co. has a 52 week low of $31.65 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.09 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.43 and a 200 day moving average of $33.93.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 28.92% and a net margin of 24.77%. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CSX shares. Barclays increased their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.78.

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.