CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) saw a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,430,000 shares, a decline of 5.3% from the January 15th total of 31,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 12,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,840,117,000 after purchasing an additional 455,258 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in CSX by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,339,555,000 after acquiring an additional 726,507 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in CSX by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $810,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,212 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in CSX by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $805,345,000 after acquiring an additional 299,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth $780,194,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $32.41 on Thursday. CSX has a 12 month low of $31.43 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.67 and its 200 day moving average is $33.78. The company has a market capitalization of $62.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued 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 net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 26.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on CSX. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital downgraded CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.16.

CSX Company 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.