CSX Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 32,791 call options on the company. This is an increase of 95% compared to the average volume of 16,818 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on CSX. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of CSX from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial set a $46.00 target price on CSX in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore set a $51.00 price target on CSX in a research report on Thursday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at CSX

In other news, CFO Kevin S. Boone sold 136,708 shares of CSX stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.70, for a total transaction of $6,384,263.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 208,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,742,647.40. The trade was a 39.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John J. Zillmer sold 10,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total transaction of $464,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 353,714 shares in the company, valued at $16,430,015.30. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in CSX by 3.2% during the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 74,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,428,000 after buying an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in CSX in the second quarter worth $28,000. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in CSX by 0.8% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 405,828 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,242,000 after acquiring an additional 3,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 22.5% in the third quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 148,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,268,000 after acquiring an additional 27,280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of CSX stock traded down $1.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $51.80. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 17,852,623 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,307,937. CSX has a 52 week low of $31.80 and a 52 week high of $53.60. The company has a market capitalization of $95.96 billion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.82.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. CSX had a net margin of 22.21% and a return on equity of 24.98%. CSX’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that CSX will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

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.