Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. reduced its stake in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,063 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CSX. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in CSX by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 304 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 309 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its position in shares of CSX by 2.4% during the third quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 14,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $434,000 after buying an additional 349 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of CSX by 2.0% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 17,967 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CSX shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of CSX from $32.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut shares of CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. 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 report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $33.99 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $66.45 billion, a PE ratio of 18.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $36.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.47. CSX Co. has a one year low of $29.03 and a one year high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The firm’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 26.37%.

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.