CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Hits New 12-Month High – What’s Next?
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemCSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX – Get Free Report)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.54 and last traded at $43.4830, with a volume of 2445218 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $42.72.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have issued reports on CSX. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (up from $40.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Friday. Evercore downgraded CSX from an “outperform” rating to an “in-line” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of CSX in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on CSX from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.20.
Read Our Latest Analysis on CSX
CSX Trading Up 1.5%
The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.79. The firm has a market cap of $80.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.25.
CSX (NASDAQ:CSX – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 23.88% and a net margin of 20.50%.The firm had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that CSX Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.
CSX Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were paid a $0.14 dividend. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.36%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other CSX news, CAO Diana B. Sorfleet sold 90,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.56, for a total value of $3,740,400.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 165,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,882,876.28. The trade was a 35.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Stephen F. Angel bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $40.27 per share, with a total value of $1,006,750.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 146,540 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,901,165.80. This trade represents a 20.57% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 188,123 shares of company stock valued at $7,454,854 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSX. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CSX by 81.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 944,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,555,000 after purchasing an additional 425,395 shares during the period. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,979,000. Reaves W H & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,326,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,282,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $300,226,000 after purchasing an additional 98,977 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CSX by 105.7% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 136,869 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,962,000 after purchasing an additional 70,326 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.
About CSX
CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.
CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.