Bank of America Cuts CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Price Target to $30.00

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) had its target price lowered by Bank of America from $33.00 to $30.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Loop Capital downgraded shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.95.

CSX Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $27.64 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $30.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $52.09 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $26.22 and a fifty-two week high of $37.10.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in CSX by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,339,555,000 after purchasing an additional 726,507 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in CSX by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $810,076,000 after purchasing an additional 2,977,212 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of CSX by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $805,345,000 after buying an additional 299,536 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter valued at $780,194,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in CSX by 40.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $753,507,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.