CSX Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 6,478 put options on the company. This is an increase of 114% compared to the typical volume of 3,024 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. StockNews.com cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.28.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. D.B. Root & Company LLC grew its stake in CSX by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. D.B. Root & Company LLC now owns 40,838 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,514,000 after acquiring an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the first quarter valued at about $255,000. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board grew its position in shares of CSX by 21.9% in the first quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 129,018 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,832,000 after purchasing an additional 23,200 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of CSX by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC now owns 29,010 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 4,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in CSX by 22.0% during the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 14,633 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $542,000 after buying an additional 2,638 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Trading Down 2.0 %

CSX stock opened at $34.16 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The firm has a market cap of $66.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.32. CSX has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. CSX had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

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.