Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 69,600 Shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in CSX Corporation by 3.9%, owning 1,723,251 shares valued at approximately $50.7 million after selling 69,600 shares.
• CSX's recent quarterly earnings exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $0.44 earnings per share compared to a consensus estimate of $0.42.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.5% and demonstrating a 32.10% payout ratio.

Bank of Nova Scotia decreased its position in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,723,251 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 69,600 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.09% of CSX worth $50,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CSX by 21.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,383,830 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $835,336,000 after acquiring an additional 5,033,743 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CSX by 13.5% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 21,124,807 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $681,696,000 after purchasing an additional 707,934 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in CSX by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 21,097,789 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $680,826,000 after buying an additional 2,550,929 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of CSX by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 20,856,567 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $673,025,000 after purchasing an additional 9,863,587 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company's stock.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $35.55. 4,830,735 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,947,393. The business's 50-day moving average is $33.41 and its 200-day moving average is $31.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.27 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.25. CSX Corporation has a 12-month low of $26.22 and a 12-month high of $37.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.57 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CSX Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Argus set a $32.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on CSX from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.00.

CSX 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.