CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) had its price target increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $37.00 to $39.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on CSX. TD Cowen boosted their price target on CSX from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Benchmark upped their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James upped their price target on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded CSX from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.28.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $35.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. CSX has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.11 and a 200-day moving average of $34.26. The company has a market capitalization of $69.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 25.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that CSX will post 1.97 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 26.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of CSX by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 64,807,961 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,246,893,000 after acquiring an additional 9,914,656 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of CSX by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 58,100,864 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,799,965,000 after buying an additional 470,000 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of CSX by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 40,353,078 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,399,104,000 after buying an additional 5,041,679 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of CSX by 1.8% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 39,236,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,172,727,000 after buying an additional 690,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of CSX by 10.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,191,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $897,624,000 after buying an additional 2,748,738 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is 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.