CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

CENTRAL TRUST Co lessened its stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,528 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 739 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in CSX were worth $329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CSX. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in CSX by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 65,251,716 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,418,883,000 after purchasing an additional 443,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 6.6% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,133,857 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $573,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,204 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of CSX by 9.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,421,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $415,466,000 after buying an additional 1,060,617 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in CSX by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,749,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $225,917,000 after buying an additional 1,884,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interval Partners LP raised its position in CSX by 849.0% in the 2nd quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 5,118,751 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $171,222,000 after buying an additional 4,579,344 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $33.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.19. CSX Co. has a 1-year low of $29.03 and a 1-year high of $40.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 24.52% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on CSX from $42.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.61.

About CSX

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.