CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.0870.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $45.00 target price on shares of CSX and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Robert W. Baird set a $40.00 target price on CSX and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised CSX from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $35.73 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.71. CSX has a one year low of $26.22 and a one year high of $37.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.55. The company has a market capitalization of $66.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.29.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.60 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.95% and a net margin of 20.55%.The firm’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.99%.

Insider Activity at CSX

In other news, CEO Stephen F. Angel acquired 55,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $36.87 per share, for a total transaction of $2,027,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 58,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,147,087.58. This represents a 1,700.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSX. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the second quarter worth about $25,000. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in CSX in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Kessler Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.