CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Short Interest Update

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,090,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the March 15th total of 23,390,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 11,700,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock traded down $0.68 on Wednesday, reaching $34.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,079,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,860,114. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.32. CSX has a 1 year low of $29.03 and a 1 year high of $40.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a market capitalization of $66.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 25.35%. CSX’s revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that CSX will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. West Tower Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Financial Synergies Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CSX. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.28.

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.