CSX Corporation $CSX Shares Bought by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in CSX Corporation by 8.6%, acquiring an additional 229,692 shares to reach a total holding of approximately $85.15 million in the first quarter.
• Multiple institutional investors have shown interest in CSX, with a total of 73.57% of the company's stock now owned by such investors, reflecting a trend of increasing institutional confidence.
• Analysts remain optimistic about CSX, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price of $37.00, supported by recent upgrades from firms including Bank of America and Deutsche Bank.

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,893,421 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 229,692 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of CSX worth $85,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lifted its stake in CSX by 9.5% in the 1st quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 20,764 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 1,797 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in CSX by 30.3% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,806,679 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $200,321,000 after buying an additional 1,584,811 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in CSX by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 117,845 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $3,481,000 after buying an additional 5,682 shares in the last quarter. Element Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CSX in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,684,000. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in CSX by 108.2% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,182,836 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $64,055,000 after buying an additional 1,134,306 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of CSX stock traded down $0.2840 during trading on Monday, hitting $34.2960. 13,413,343 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,624,281. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $34.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.66. CSX Corporation has a 52-week low of $26.22 and a 52-week high of $37.25.

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. The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.57 billion. CSX had a net margin of 21.92% and a return on equity of 25.48%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that CSX Corporation will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. CSX's payout ratio is presently 32.10%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CSX from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of CSX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of CSX from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $38.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on CSX from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded CSX from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. One research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.