CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.88%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

CSX Trading Down 0.1 %

CSX stock traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.36. 2,772,952 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,979,290. CSX has a 1 year low of $29.03 and a 1 year high of $40.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $36.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. CSX’s payout ratio is 26.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on CSX. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.72.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CSX by 101,926.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,323,241 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $722,554,000 after acquiring an additional 23,300,381 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter valued at about $621,349,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of CSX by 558.0% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,800,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,620,000 after acquiring an additional 5,767,302 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of CSX by 26.2% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 23,385,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,784,000 after acquiring an additional 4,850,783 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of CSX by 395.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,208,520 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,059,000 after acquiring an additional 4,158,204 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.