CSX Company Profile (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker symbol "CSX."

CSX announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share on Thursday, June 15th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 26th. This is a positive change from CSX's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. View CSX's Dividend History.

CSX announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Monday, April 24th 2017, which authorizes the company to buyback $1,000,000,000.00 in shares, according to EventVestor. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 2.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April, 19th. The company reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $2.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.76 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 14.71% and a net margin of 15.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.37 earnings per share. View CSX's Earnings History.

CSX is scheduled to release their next quarterly earnings announcement on Tuesday, July, 11th 2017. View Earnings Estimates for CSX.

CSX updated its FY17 earnings guidance on Thursday, May, 18th. The company provided earnings per share guidance of +25% to ~$2.26 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus earnings per share estimate of $2.29.

28 brokers have issued 1-year target prices for CSX's stock. Their forecasts range from $31.00 to $65.00. On average, they anticipate CSX's share price to reach $52.23 in the next year. View Analyst Ratings for CSX.

Here are some recent quotes from research analysts about CSX stock:

• 1. TD Securities analysts commented, "We believe CSX is poised for a period of accelerated earnings growth under Mr. Harrison, which will likely attract a premium valuation multiple. While the trajectory of the coal business is a risk to our thesis, we note that our forecast does not factor in the potential for substantial U.S." (4/21/2017)
• 2. According to Zacks Investment Research, "Shares of CSX Corp. have outperformed the Zacks categorized Transportation-Rail industry in the last three months. Since Jan 19, the market was rife with speculations that the company and a hedge fund were in talks to revamp its management to improve efficiencies. Putting all rumors to rest, the company announced earlier in the month that it has inked a deal with Paul Hilal's Mantle Ridge hedge fund. As part of the agreement, CSX Corp. appointed E. Hunter Harrison as its CEO, with immediate effect. Harrison intends to drive growth at CSX Corp. by slashing costs. Moreover, the company's efforts to reward shareholders through dividends and share buybacks are encouraging. However, headwinds like high debt levels raise concerns." (3/21/2017)
• 3. Stifel Nicolaus analysts commented, "Hunter Harrison is in as CEO of CSX effective immediately. We expect that this is a commitment to significant OR improvement over the coming investment horizon. Hunter is quoted as saying the team will implement Precision Scheduled Railroading, a technique used to great success at CP in recent years. This comes shortly after CSX announced a commitment for $160 million in management head count reduction." (3/7/2017)
• 4. Cowen and Company analysts commented, "In a much expected announcement CSX Corporation named Hunter Harrison as Chief Executive Officer, replacing the retiring Michael Ward who will remain as a consultant. The company also reached an agreement with activist investor Mantle Ridge which gives them five new seats (including Mr. Harrison and Mantle Ridge founder Paul Hilal) on Board of Directors. With three incumbent board members announcing their intent to resign their positions at the end of the year, the board will have 13 members now with current director Edward Kelly III becoming Chairman and Paul Hilal Vice Chairman... While CSX was already in the process of laying off/cutting 1,000 people from its management ranks we fully expect that Mr. Harrison will push that number higher and also cut into the rank and file headcount by reducing/combing yards and shops. It is also expected that the company will now focus on faster growing areas of its network, which could lead to some shedding of lines. Mr. Harrison's proverbial playbook of cutting 'fat' and running a scheduled railroad may not seem complicated but his methods are time tested and we fully expect him to easily exceed the company's previous long term OR target of 65% over the next few years. Our previous estimates are currently under review." (3/7/2017)
• 5. Deutsche Bank AG analysts commented, "Mantle Ridge will receive about 40% of total board seats, equating to 5 appointees (including Hilal and Hunter) out of 13 total seats, which gives effect for former CEO Mike Ward's retirement and roll-off of 3 incumbent board members at the next annual general meeting sometime in the next 3 months (chairman of audit and finance committees and one regular board member). There does not appear to be any standstill agreement, which likely allows Mantle Ridge to continue pressing for change if need be. Interestingly, CSX has not agreed to Hunter Harrison's make-whole payment, choosing instead of put it up for shareholder vote at the annual general meeting, which we think should easily pass (we believe Hunter Harrison has an effective insurance policy on this payment with Mantle Ridge, creating some risk if shareholders don't agree, though we think there is very little probability of that happening)." (3/7/2017)

CSX saw a increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 20,460,237 shares, an increase of 13.0% from the April 28th total of 18,102,129 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,244,676 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Some companies that are related to CSX include United Parcel Service (UPS), Union Pacific (UNP), Grupo Aeroportuario dl Srst SAB CV (ASR), Canadian National Railway (CNI), FedEx (FDX), Deutsche Post AG (DPSGY), A.P. Moller - Maersk A/S (AMKBY), Delta Air Lines (DAL), Southwest Airlines Co (LUV), Norfolk Southern Corp. (NSC), Ryanair Holdings plc (RYAAY), United Continental Holdings (UAL), American Airlines Group (AAL), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP), International Consoltd Airlns Grp SA (ICAGY), ANA Holdings (ALNPY), Alaska Air Group (ALK) and ZTO Express (Cayman) (ZTO).

CSX's stock is owned by many different of institutional and retail investors. Top institutional investors include Vanguard Group Inc. (7.33%), State Street Corp (4.41%), FMR LLC (3.04%), Wellington Management Group LLP (1.87%), Janus Capital Management LLC (1.80%) and Dimensional Fund Advisors LP (1.21%). Company insiders that own CSX stock include Clarence W Gooden, David M Ratcliffe, E Hunter Harrison and Michael J Ward. View Institutional Ownership Trends for CSX.

CSX's stock was sold by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Wellington Management Group LLP, Lazard Asset Management LLC, APG Asset Management N.V., Alleghany Corp DE, FMR LLC, AQR Capital Management LLC, Principal Financial Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley. Company insiders that have sold CSX stock in the last year include Clarence W Gooden and Michael J Ward. View Insider Buying and Selling for CSX.

CSX's stock was bought by a variety of institutional investors in the last quarter, including Brahman Capital Corp., Blue Ridge Capital L.L.C., Janus Capital Management LLC, Thrivent Financial For Lutherans, OZ Management LP, Jennison Associates LLC, Bank of New York Mellon Corp and Teachers Advisors LLC. Company insiders that have bought CSX stock in the last two years include David M Ratcliffe and E Hunter Harrison. View Insider Buying and Selling for CSX.

Shares of CSX can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages include Vanguard Brokerage Services, TD Ameritrade, E*TRADE, Scottrade, Fidelity and Charles Schwab.

One share of CSX stock can currently be purchased for approximately $53.96.