CSX Corporation $CSX Stock Holdings Boosted by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 219,275 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,703 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in CSX were worth $10,198,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at about $7,655,277,000. XXEC Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter worth about $765,595,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,598,962,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter worth about $950,325,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at about $747,001,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on CSX. Bank of America lifted their price objective on CSX from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $52.00 price objective (up from $49.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Evercore set a $53.00 target price on CSX in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank restated a “buy” rating and issued a $59.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on CSX from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.20.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $51.90 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19. The company has a market cap of $95.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.12. CSX Corporation has a twelve month low of $33.63 and a twelve month high of $53.60.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. CSX had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 25.94%. CSX’s revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that CSX Corporation will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Zillmer sold 19,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total value of $999,180.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 334,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,125,125.36. This represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation is a freight transportation company that operates one of the largest rail networks in the eastern United States. Its rail system serves customers across much of the eastern U.S., as well as parts of Canada, and connects with other railroads and ports. CSX transports a broad range of goods, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, automobiles, minerals, forest products, coal and intermodal freight. Its services include rail transportation, intermodal shipping that combines rail and truck transport, and related logistics and supply-chain services.