Van ECK Associates Corp Has $41.04 Million Position in CSX Corporation $CSX

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) by 39.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 863,440 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246,473 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CSX were worth $41,039,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in CSX in the second quarter worth about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in CSX during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WFA of San Diego LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John J. Zillmer sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total transaction of $464,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 353,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,430,015.30. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Kevin S. Boone sold 136,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.70, for a total value of $6,384,263.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 208,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,742,647.40. This trade represents a 39.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 189,708 shares of company stock worth $9,132,304 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on CSX from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on CSX from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price objective on CSX in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.31.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $51.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. CSX Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.80 and a 1 year high of $53.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.91 and a 200-day moving average of $45.57.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CSX Corporation will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

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

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.