CSX Corporation $CSX Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its position in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,502,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 14,255 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $71,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens began coverage on CSX in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Argus set a $56.00 price objective on CSX in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp started coverage on CSX in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded CSX from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $54.00 price target (up from $51.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, CSX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CSX news, CAO Angela C. Williams sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total transaction of $1,598,700.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,187.73. This represents a 74.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael S. Burns sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.68, for a total transaction of $684,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 59,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,141,993.24. The trade was a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $49.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market cap of $91.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.21. CSX Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $31.80 and a fifty-two week high of $53.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $50.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.95.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 22.21%.CSX’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CSX Corporation will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.37%.

CSX Company Profile

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.