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

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.16.

Several equities analysts recently commented on CSX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on CSX from $36.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp raised its position in CSX by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,840,117,000 after purchasing an additional 455,258 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 726,507 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in CSX by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,212 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in CSX by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $805,345,000 after purchasing an additional 299,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in CSX during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $780,194,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock opened at $32.46 on Friday. CSX has a 52 week low of $31.43 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $62.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. On average, research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.82%.

CSX Company 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.