Legal & General Group Plc Takes Position in CSX Corporation $CSX

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 15,716,411 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $747,001,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CSX during the 2nd quarter worth $7,655,277,000. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $765,595,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $950,325,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at $685,418,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter worth $224,809,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 price target on CSX and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price objective (up from $51.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $52.00 target price (up from $49.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of CSX from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.31.

CSX Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CSX opened at $51.44 on Tuesday. CSX Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.80 and a 52-week high of $53.60. The business’s fifty day moving average is $49.46 and its 200-day moving average is $45.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $95.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.73, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.21.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. CSX had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 22.21%.The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. CSX’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that CSX Corporation will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin S. Boone sold 136,708 shares of CSX stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angela C. Williams sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total transaction of $1,598,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,187.73. This represents a 74.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 189,708 shares of company stock worth $9,132,304 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.