Cerity Partners LLC Has $9.02 Million Stock Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Cerity Partners LLC reduced its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 274,430 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 15,431 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $9,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,339,555,000 after buying an additional 726,507 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $805,345,000 after purchasing an additional 299,536 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter worth $780,194,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of CSX by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $753,507,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730,316 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of CSX by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,950,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $385,632,000 after purchasing an additional 358,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CSX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group decreased their target price on CSX from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Loop Capital cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.85.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX opened at $27.82 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.76. CSX Co. has a 52-week low of $26.22 and a 52-week high of $37.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were given a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.05%.

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.