Ascent Group LLC Sells 14,533 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 60,652 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 14,533 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $2,094,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in CSX during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its stake in CSX by 177.8% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 750 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in CSX during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC purchased a new position in CSX in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Fairscale Capital LLC purchased a new position in CSX in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on CSX. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stephens decreased their target price on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.78.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $36.34 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.70 and a 200 day moving average of $34.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.19. CSX Co. has a 12-month low of $31.74 and a 12-month high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 28.92% and a net margin of 24.77%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

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.