CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02, Zacks reports. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. CSX's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $35.76. The company had a trading volume of 31,706,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,897,412. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $32.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.26. CSX has a 12-month low of $26.22 and a 12-month high of $37.10. The company has a market capitalization of $66.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. CSX's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $32.00 target price on CSX in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wall Street Zen raised CSX from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $37.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently raised its position in CSX stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,254 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in CSX were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.