CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Sell

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Friday morning.

CSX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut CSX from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of CSX in a report on Monday. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on CSX from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Baird R W raised CSX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.95.

CSX Price Performance

CSX opened at $36.01 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.98. CSX has a 12-month low of $26.22 and a 12-month high of $37.25. The firm has a market cap of $67.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.29. 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) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. The company 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 32.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in CSX by 21.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,383,830 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $835,336,000 after acquiring an additional 5,033,743 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of CSX by 12.5% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 23,456,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $690,359,000 after purchasing an additional 2,599,518 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of CSX by 4.6% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,067,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $649,442,000 after purchasing an additional 969,567 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of CSX by 11.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 18,742,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $551,540,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,322 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 19.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 15,312,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $450,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454,895 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.