Strs Ohio Lowers Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 582,596 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 25,425 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in CSX were worth $20,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Value Partners Investments Inc. bought a new position in CSX during the third quarter valued at $1,172,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in CSX by 3.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,340,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $748,471,000 after purchasing an additional 739,411 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CSX by 3,241.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 235,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,158,000 after purchasing an additional 228,263 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter valued at $1,279,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in CSX by 414.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,534 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 41,524 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $37.04 and a 200 day moving average of $34.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.05. CSX Co. has a one year low of $29.03 and a one year high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. CSX had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.49 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CSX shares. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.28.

CSX 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.