Earnest Partners LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in CSX Corporation $CSX

Key Points

• Earnest Partners LLC has reduced its stake in CSX Corporation by 3.0%, now holding 2.33 million shares valued at approximately $68.69 million.
• In the latest earnings report, CSX beat expectations with an EPS of $0.44 compared to the expected $0.42, although revenue decreased by 3.5% year-over-year.
• CSX has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13, yielding 1.6%, with an annualized payout ratio of 32.10% for its investors.

Earnest Partners LLC decreased its position in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,333,983 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 71,518 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC owned about 0.12% of CSX worth $68,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in CSX by 51.2% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 5,916 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 2,004 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG raised its holdings in CSX by 75.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG now owns 181,588 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $5,344,000 after acquiring an additional 78,212 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CSX by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,966 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $176,000 after acquiring an additional 2,132 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in CSX during the 1st quarter valued at $7,073,000. Finally, Ally Financial Inc. raised its holdings in CSX by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 85,000 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,502,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company's stock.

CSX Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSX traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $32.51. The company had a trading volume of 13,464,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,342,372. CSX Corporation has a 52-week low of $26.22 and a 52-week high of $37.25. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $34.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.64. The company has a market capitalization of $60.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

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

CSX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. CSX's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CSX. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $36.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of CSX from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of CSX from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of CSX from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, CSX has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.00.

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.