CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $31.29 and last traded at $31.41, with a volume of 3610560 shares. The stock had previously closed at $31.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital lowered CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.16.

CSX Trading Down 2.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $32.59 and its 200 day moving average is $33.69.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. Equities analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,840,117,000 after buying an additional 455,258 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in CSX by 1.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 726,507 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of CSX by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,212 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted 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 worth $805,345,000 after purchasing an additional 299,536 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $780,194,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.