Freestone Grove Partners LP Purchases New Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 397,190 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $12,817,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of CSX by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,339,555,000 after purchasing an additional 726,507 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CSX by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $810,076,000 after buying an additional 2,977,212 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $805,345,000 after buying an additional 299,536 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $780,194,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of CSX by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $753,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CSX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $34.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on CSX from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on CSX from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded CSX from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.86.

CSX Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSX traded down $0.23 on Monday, reaching $28.47. The stock had a trading volume of 9,480,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,702,467. 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 $53.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22. CSX Co. has a 1-year low of $26.22 and a 1-year high of $37.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.02.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). CSX had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. The business had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Research analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from CSX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. CSX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.14%.

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.