Cercano Management LLC Takes $4.87 Million Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Cercano Management LLC bought a new position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 150,870 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,869,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in CSX by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,339,555,000 after purchasing an additional 726,507 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of CSX by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $810,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,212 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $805,345,000 after acquiring an additional 299,536 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $780,194,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in CSX by 40.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $753,507,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730,316 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $28.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $53.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.98. CSX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $26.22 and a fifty-two week high of $37.10.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.05). CSX had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on CSX in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of CSX from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of CSX from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.86.

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.