National Pension Service Raises Stock Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

National Pension Service grew its holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,150,902 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 108,229 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.21% of CSX worth $143,912,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of CSX by 416.8% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,070,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $155,912,000 after buying an additional 4,089,150 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of CSX by 10.4% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,191,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $897,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,738 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of CSX by 68.1% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,234,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $160,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,965 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,160,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $220,189,000 after buying an additional 1,609,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in CSX by 43.8% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,752,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $146,128,000 after buying an additional 1,446,685 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $34.22. 8,092,222 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,196,176. The stock has a market cap of $66.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. CSX Co. has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.06 and its 200-day moving average is $34.64. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. CSX’s payout ratio is 26.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com downgraded CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.00.

CSX 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.