Sit Investment Associates Inc. Invests $10.18 Million in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. bought a new stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 315,425 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,179,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviva PLC increased its position in CSX by 36.2% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,168,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $37,693,000 after acquiring an additional 310,700 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of CSX by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC now owns 42,269 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 631 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter worth approximately $18,992,000. Riverwater Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,000. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 27,013 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $871,000 after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CSX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on CSX in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $34.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of CSX from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $36.20.

CSX Stock Down 2.8 %

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $27.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 1.23. CSX Co. has a one year low of $26.95 and a one year high of $37.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.03. The company has a market cap of $51.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.22.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 28.15% and a net margin of 23.95%. On average, research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 29.05%.

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.