Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,508 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,222 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perpetual Ltd acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter valued at about $83,301,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in CSX by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $539,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447,651 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in CSX by 616.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,114,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,966,000 after purchasing an additional 958,957 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,656,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $851,404,000 after buying an additional 857,302 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of CSX by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,745,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $440,118,000 after buying an additional 737,221 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Stock Up 0.9 %

CSX stock opened at $32.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CSX Co. has a twelve month low of $31.43 and a twelve month high of $38.70. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.74.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on CSX. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital lowered shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.16.

CSX Profile

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.