CSX’s (CSX) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Benchmark

Benchmark reissued their buy rating on shares of CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $40.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CSX. Raymond James upped their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CSX currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $37.72.

CSX Price Performance

CSX opened at $34.39 on Thursday. CSX has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month 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. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.32. The company has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.90, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.18.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. CSX had a return on equity of 29.88% and a net margin of 24.75%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s payout ratio is 26.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the 1st quarter valued at $14,980,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,158,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $230,637,000 after purchasing an additional 347,514 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 122,334 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,581,000 after purchasing an additional 13,829 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 195,872 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,361,000 after purchasing an additional 8,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 71,521 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,678,000 after purchasing an additional 10,276 shares during the last quarter. 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.