Factorial Partners LLC Purchases 17,000 Shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX)

Key Points

• Factorial Partners LLC increased its holdings in CSX Corporation by 17.1%, now owning a total of 116,500 shares valued at approximately $3,429,000.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 73.57% of CSX's stock, with several hedge funds recently boosting their stakes in the company during the fourth quarter.
• CSX Corporation reported an EPS of $0.44 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst estimates, and announced a $0.13 quarterly dividend with a yield of 1.5% to be paid in September.

Factorial Partners LLC increased its holdings in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 17.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,500 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,000 shares during the period. CSX makes up about 2.1% of Factorial Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Factorial Partners LLC's holdings in CSX were worth $3,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CSX. ING Groep NV increased its stake in shares of CSX by 50.7% in the first quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 190,764 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,614,000 after buying an additional 64,152 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its stake in CSX by 12.6% in the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 19,608 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its stake in CSX by 1.3% in the first quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 40,746 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in CSX by 5.5% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 170,528 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 8,919 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its stake in CSX by 92.6% in the first quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 4,160 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company's stock.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $35.43. 10,864,400 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,548,876. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $33.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77. CSX Corporation has a one year low of $26.22 and a one year high of $37.10.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.57 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that CSX Corporation will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. CSX's payout ratio is presently 32.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on CSX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $35.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $36.00 price target (up from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Baird R W raised CSX to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Seven research 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.