CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Stock Sees Unusually High Call Option Buying

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders bought 24,847 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 89% compared to the average daily volume of 13,119 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James Financial set a $55.00 price target on CSX in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $32.00 target price on CSX and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $53.00 price target on CSX in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $54.00 price target on CSX in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $54.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Zillmer sold 19,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total transaction of $999,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 334,214 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,125,125.36. The trade was a 5.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. May Hill Capital LLC increased its position in CSX by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. May Hill Capital LLC now owns 10,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in CSX by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 7,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP lifted its position in CSX by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 10,591 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 5,301 shares during the period. Heritage Family Offices LLP lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 7.5% during the third quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 5,160 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC raised its position in CSX by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,135,000 after buying an additional 1,206 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSX traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $50.80. The company had a trading volume of 3,751,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,425,022. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average of $45.59. The company has a market cap of $93.65 billion, a PE ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.21. CSX has a 1-year low of $33.63 and a 1-year high of $53.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.84.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. CSX had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CSX will post 2.04 EPS for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.02%.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a transportation company whose primary business is freight railroading through its CSX Transportation subsidiary. The company operates an extensive rail network across the eastern United States, serving major industrial centers, population hubs, ports and distribution markets.

CSX transports a broad range of products, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, forest products, minerals, metals, automotive goods and other manufactured merchandise. Its services also include intermodal transportation, which combines rail service with trucks and containers, as well as the movement of coal and other bulk commodities.

The company traces its roots to the formation of CSX Corporation in 1980 through the merger of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries.