CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.14

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 26th. Investors of record on Friday, February 27th will be paid a dividend of 0.14 per share by the transportation company on Friday, March 13th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. This is a 7.7% increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13.

CSX has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 21 years. CSX has a dividend payout ratio of 27.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect CSX to earn $2.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 24.9%.

CSX Trading Up 0.0%

CSX traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.67. 2,553,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,977,447. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.30. CSX has a 12-month low of $26.22 and a 12-month high of $42.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.14 and a 200 day moving average of $36.04.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 23.88% and a net margin of 20.50%.CSX’s quarterly revenue was down .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on CSX shares. Evercore dropped their target price on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of CSX and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of CSX in a research report on Monday, December 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on CSX from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.77.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.

CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.