CSX Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CSX)

Key Points

• CSX saw unusually high options activity, with traders purchasing 24,847 call options—about 89% above the average daily volume.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $52.20 price target; TD Cowen and Royal Bank of Canada recently raised their targets.
• CSX reported quarterly earnings and revenue above expectations, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share, representing a 1.1% yield.

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 24,847 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 89% compared to the average daily volume of 13,119 call options.

Insider Activity at CSX

In other news, Director John Zillmer sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total value of $999,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 334,214 shares in the company, valued at $17,125,125.36. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CSX. May Hill Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 3.0% in the third quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $498,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of CSX by 25.6% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,982 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of CSX by 100.2% in the third quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 10,591 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP boosted its holdings in CSX by 7.5% in the third quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 5,160 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $240,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in CSX by 5.2% in the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,410 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and issued a $49.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Truist Financial set a $46.00 price objective on CSX in a research report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $54.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Evercore set a $53.00 target price on CSX in a research report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $54.00 target price (up from $53.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.20.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX traded down $0.81 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $50.80. 3,751,437 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,425,022. The stock has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average of $45.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84. CSX has a 52 week low of $33.63 and a 52 week high of $53.60.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. CSX had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that CSX will post 2.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. CSX's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.02%.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation is a transportation company whose primary business is freight railroading through its CSX Transportation subsidiary. The company operates an extensive rail network across the eastern United States, serving major industrial centers, population hubs, ports and distribution markets.

CSX transports a broad range of products, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, forest products, minerals, metals, automotive goods and other manufactured merchandise. Its services also include intermodal transportation, which combines rail service with trucks and containers, as well as the movement of coal and other bulk commodities.

The company traces its roots to the formation of CSX Corporation in 1980 through the merger of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries.

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