CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $37.16.

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup cut 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. Barclays cut their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 455,258 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,339,555,000 after acquiring an additional 726,507 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $810,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,212 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $805,345,000 after acquiring an additional 299,536 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter worth $780,194,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Up 0.2 %

CSX stock opened at $32.46 on Friday. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $31.43 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $62.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.13, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 26.82%.

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.