Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lessened its position in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,773 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CSX were worth $5,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Value Partners Investments Inc. purchased a new position in CSX during the 3rd quarter worth $1,172,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in CSX by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 24,340,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $748,471,000 after acquiring an additional 739,411 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in CSX by 3,241.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 235,304 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $8,158,000 after acquiring an additional 228,263 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of CSX by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 723,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $25,078,000 after purchasing an additional 34,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,279,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of CSX traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $33.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,992,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,273,807. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.14 and a 200 day moving average of $34.61. The company has a market cap of $65.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. CSX Co. has a 1 year low of $29.03 and a 1 year high of $40.12. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.58%. CSX’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 given a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CSX. StockNews.com cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on CSX from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

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.