CSX Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 24,554 call options on the company. This is an increase of 165% compared to the typical volume of 9,266 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on CSX shares. Citigroup lifted their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $34.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a "market perform" rating and set a $36.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CSX currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.64.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 8.4% in the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 204,640 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $6,677,000 after purchasing an additional 15,939 shares during the period. Somerset Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Modern Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,518 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,614,000. Finally, Foresight Group Ltd Liability Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,504,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.96 on Friday, hitting $34.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,072,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,302,846. CSX has a 1 year low of $26.22 and a 1 year high of $37.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $64.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $31.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.10.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. CSX had a net margin of 22.66% and a return on equity of 26.42%. Equities analysts predict that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. CSX's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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