CSX Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 93,287 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 349% compared to the typical volume of 20,779 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CSX shares. Baird R W raised shares of CSX to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of CSX from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of CSX from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $36.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $32.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Monday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.41.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in CSX during the 1st quarter worth $29,614,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 1,447,099 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,588,000 after buying an additional 90,313 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 127.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 1,151,161 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,879,000 after buying an additional 645,693 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 1,642 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 38,757 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,141,000 after buying an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

CSX opened at $34.07 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $34.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.71. 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 has a 52 week low of $26.22 and a 52 week high of $37.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.25.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 32.10%.

CSX Company Profile

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.