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

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

CSX Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of CSX stock opened at $34.39 on Friday. CSX has a 1 year low of $29.03 and a 1 year high of $40.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $36.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.32.

CSX Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 23,300,381 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at about $621,349,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted 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 worth $203,620,000 after buying an additional 5,767,302 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings 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 worth $810,784,000 after buying an additional 4,850,783 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of CSX from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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.