Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Reduces Stock Position in CSX Corporation $CSX

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD has decreased its stake in CSX Corporation by 49.2%, selling 24,683,402 shares and now holds 25,473,958 shares worth approximately $749.7 million.
• Various institutional investors have increased or adjusted their stakes in CSX, with Credit Agricole S A increasing its position by 106.2% during the first quarter.
• CSX announced a quarterly dividend of $0.13 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.4%, and a payout ratio of 32.10%.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 49.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 25,473,958 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 24,683,402 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 1.36% of CSX worth $749,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in CSX by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in CSX by 219.0% during the fourth quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 714 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 45.7% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 301,144 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $9,718,000 after purchasing an additional 94,468 shares during the last quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of CSX by 31.1% in the fourth quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 3,282 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 779 shares during the period. Finally, Cartenna Capital LP bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter valued at $88,894,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company's stock.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.37. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,723,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,001,092. CSX Corporation has a twelve month low of $26.22 and a twelve month high of $37.25. The stock has a market cap of $60.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.99, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CSX Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. CSX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CSX. Wall Street Zen cut shares of CSX from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of CSX from $34.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a "market perform" rating and set a $36.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of CSX from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on CSX from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company 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.