Homestead Advisers Corp Sells 101,100 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Homestead Advisers Corp lowered its stake in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,139,533 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 101,100 shares during the quarter. CSX accounts for 1.7% of Homestead Advisers Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Homestead Advisers Corp owned 0.11% of CSX worth $69,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in CSX by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 82,250,713 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,840,117,000 after purchasing an additional 455,258 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 40,906,826 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,407,087,000 after buying an additional 190,346 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,956,467 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $805,345,000 after acquiring an additional 299,536 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CSX by 40.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $753,507,000 after acquiring an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its holdings in CSX by 10.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $539,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,447,651 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $37.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital lowered CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $34.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, CSX has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

CSX Stock Up 1.3 %

CSX stock opened at $29.90 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $56.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. CSX Co. has a twelve month low of $28.98 and a twelve month high of $37.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $31.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.26.

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

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 29.05%.

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.