CSX Corporation $CSX Shares Purchased by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 114,982 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 15,048 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CSX were worth $5,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the second quarter worth approximately $7,655,277,000. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the second quarter valued at approximately $765,595,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,598,962,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $950,325,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in CSX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $747,001,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $60.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. UBS Group set a $54.00 price target on CSX in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.20.

CSX Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $52.40 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.18. CSX Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $33.63 and a fifty-two week high of $53.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.04. CSX had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that CSX Corporation will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be paid a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 29.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John Zillmer sold 19,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.24, for a total value of $999,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 334,214 shares in the company, valued at $17,125,125.36. This trade represents a 5.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

CSX Profile

CSX Corporation is a freight transportation company that operates one of the largest rail networks in the eastern United States. Its rail system serves customers across much of the eastern U.S., as well as parts of Canada, and connects with other railroads and ports. CSX transports a broad range of goods, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, automobiles, minerals, forest products, coal and intermodal freight. Its services include rail transportation, intermodal shipping that combines rail and truck transport, and related logistics and supply-chain services.