CSX Co. (CSX) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 on March 14th

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a dividend of 0.13 per share by the transportation company on Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

CSX has raised its dividend by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years. CSX has a payout ratio of 22.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect CSX to earn $2.11 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.7%.

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock opened at $33.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $32.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.83. CSX has a 1 year low of $31.43 and a 1 year high of $40.12. The stock has a market cap of $63.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast that CSX will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CSX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.16.

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.