CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Short Interest Up 7.3% in March

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) was the target 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSX has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on CSX from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.28.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $34.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.04 and a 200 day moving average of $34.32. CSX has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $68.20 billion, a PE ratio of 18.93, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48.

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

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.09%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CSX. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in CSX by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in CSX by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,210 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in CSX by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,244 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,169,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp raised its position in CSX by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX raised its position in CSX by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 115,572 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,007,000 after buying an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.