Larson Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Larson Financial Group LLC reduced its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,605 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 352 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CSX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in CSX by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $753,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in CSX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,959,000. Perpetual Ltd bought a new stake in CSX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,301,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in CSX by 10.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $539,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in CSX by 616.4% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,114,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,966,000 after acquiring an additional 958,957 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on CSX shares. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

CSX Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $29.52 on Wednesday. CSX Co. has a 52-week low of $29.50 and a 52-week high of $38.14. The stock has a market cap of $55.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.39 and its 200 day moving average is $33.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. Sell-side analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s payout ratio is 29.05%.

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.