CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,080,000 shares, an increase of 7.4% from the May 31st total of 30,810,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 12,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days.

CSX Stock Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.76. The company had a trading volume of 11,744,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,982,096. The company has a market cap of $66.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.20. CSX has a twelve month low of $29.03 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.14.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. The company’s revenue was down .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that CSX will post 1.96 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 31st were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its holdings in CSX by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 23,793 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 973 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 18.7% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 18,576 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 4.9% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 32,689 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 1,527 shares during the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA increased its position in shares of CSX by 1.8% during the second quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 18,748 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in CSX by 33.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,431 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 2,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.59.

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.