CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

CSX Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of CSX stock opened at $34.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $36.88 and a 200 day moving average of $34.35. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 1st quarter valued at about $71,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CSX shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.72.

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.