Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 102.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 524,906 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 265,938 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in CSX were worth $18,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CSX. Value Partners Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in CSX in the third quarter worth $1,172,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in CSX by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,340,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $748,471,000 after buying an additional 739,411 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in CSX by 3,241.9% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 235,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,158,000 after buying an additional 228,263 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in CSX by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 723,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,078,000 after buying an additional 34,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CSX in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,279,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James raised their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group lowered their target price on CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CSX presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

CSX Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $33.20 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.41 and a 200 day moving average of $34.53. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $29.03 and a 52 week high of $40.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.24, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 26.37%.

CSX 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.