Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,604 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in CSX in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.39.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $33.79. 6,746,385 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,818,724. The firm has a market cap of $66.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.54, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.07. CSX Co. has a 1-year low of $29.03 and a 1-year high of $40.12.

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

CSX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.