Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 319,770 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 175,484,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 319,770 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 9.10% of CSX worth $5,662,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. grew its holdings in CSX by 205.7% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on CSX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.00.

CSX Stock Down 1.4 %

NASDAQ CSX opened at $29.57 on Monday. CSX Co. has a 1-year low of $28.98 and a 1-year high of $37.40. The company has a market cap of $56.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.52, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $32.03 and a 200-day moving average of $33.34.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 expect that CSX Co. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 29.05%.

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.