Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $74.71 Million Stock Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,315,156 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 33,387 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $74,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of CSX by 0.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 455,258 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CSX by 0.5% during the third 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 during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CSX by 3.6% in the third 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 raised its stake in CSX by 10.2% in the third 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of CSX by 6.1% in the third 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 valued at $440,118,000 after buying an additional 737,221 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Trading Down 3.7 %

CSX opened at $32.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $31.43 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.78.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. Analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 target price 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.16.

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.