CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• CSX Corporation has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from 22 ratings firms, with 15 buy ratings and an average price target of $37.00.
• Institutional investors now hold 73.57% of CSX's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Brighton Jones LLC and Wellington Management Group LLP in the fourth quarter.
• CSX has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, representing a 1.5% dividend yield, with the payout ratio standing at 32.10%.

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CSX. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CSX from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in CSX by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in CSX by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 117,579 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,794,000 after buying an additional 15,029 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of CSX by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,616,122 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $52,152,000 after acquiring an additional 186,658 shares in the last quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of CSX by 31.3% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 181,552 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,859,000 after acquiring an additional 43,235 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in shares of CSX by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 13,531,732 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $436,632,000 after acquiring an additional 979,215 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company's stock.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $35.25 on Friday. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $26.22 and a fifty-two week high of $37.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $33.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.76, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.25.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. CSX's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.10%.

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.

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