CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Releases 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 (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. CSX’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $34.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,591,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,002,044. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.32. The firm has a market cap of $67.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.18. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12. 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in CSX by 101,926.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 23,323,241 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $722,554,000 after buying an additional 23,300,381 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter valued at $621,349,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in CSX by 558.0% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,800,925 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $203,620,000 after buying an additional 5,767,302 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in CSX by 26.2% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 23,385,735 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,784,000 after buying an additional 4,850,783 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in CSX by 395.9% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,208,520 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $195,059,000 after buying an additional 4,158,204 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CSX. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.72.

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.