SouthState Corp Reduces Stock Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

SouthState Corp decreased its stake in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 2,637 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in CSX were worth $849,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in CSX by 416.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,070,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,912,000 after acquiring an additional 4,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in CSX by 10.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,191,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $897,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,738 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CSX by 68.1% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,234,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $160,970,000 after buying an additional 2,119,965 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 29.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,160,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $220,189,000 after buying an additional 1,609,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,752,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $146,128,000 after buying an additional 1,446,685 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSX traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $33.85. 6,617,956 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,311,956. CSX Co. 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 $36.32 and a 200 day moving average of $34.52. The company has a market cap of $66.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 26.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America cut their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CSX currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

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.