CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Short Interest Update

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,090,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the March 15th total of 23,390,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.28.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX traded down $0.68 on Wednesday, reaching $34.16. The company had a trading volume of 24,079,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,860,114. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12. The stock has a market cap of $66.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $37.04 and its 200 day moving average is $34.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.05.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. CSX had a net margin of 25.35% and a return on equity of 30.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that CSX will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CSX. Bornite Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the 1st quarter worth approximately $14,980,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 6,158,544 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $230,637,000 after acquiring an additional 347,514 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 122,334 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,581,000 after acquiring an additional 13,829 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 195,872 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,361,000 after acquiring an additional 8,488 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 71,521 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,678,000 after acquiring an additional 10,276 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.