Essex Financial Services Inc. Acquires 1,375 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in CSX by 0.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,840,117,000 after purchasing an additional 455,258 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CSX by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,906,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,407,087,000 after purchasing an additional 190,346 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,656,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $851,404,000 after buying an additional 857,302 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in CSX by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $539,112,000 after buying an additional 1,447,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in CSX by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,745,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $440,118,000 after buying an additional 737,221 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ CSX opened at $33.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.85. CSX Co. has a twelve month low of $31.43 and a twelve month high of $40.12. 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 company has a market capitalization of $63.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.50, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. Research analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six investment 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 company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.16.

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.