Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $19.99 Million Position in CSX Corporation $CSX

Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 413,958 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 36,207 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $19,988,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in CSX during the second quarter valued at $7,655,277,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in CSX by 5,136.1% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 135,990,650 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,463,636,000 after purchasing an additional 133,393,481 shares during the last quarter. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in CSX during the second quarter worth approximately $765,595,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in CSX during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,598,962,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in CSX during the second quarter valued at approximately $950,325,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael Burns sold 13,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the senior vice president owned 59,643 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,141,993.24. This represents a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Angela Williams sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total value of $1,598,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,187.73. The trade was a 74.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CSX shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of CSX from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 24th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on CSX from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Susquehanna upgraded shares of CSX from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $50.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Eighteen research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.31.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX opened at $48.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $90.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.21. CSX Corporation has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $53.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $50.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 22.21% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that CSX Corporation will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 31st will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.1%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 32.37%.

CSX Profile

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ: CSX) is a transportation company that operates one of the largest rail networks in the eastern United States. Through its CSX Transportation subsidiary, the company provides rail freight transportation and logistics services for manufacturers, distributors, utilities, agricultural businesses and other commercial customers.

CSX transports a broad range of products, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, minerals, forest products, metals, automobiles and consumer goods.