Scotia Capital Inc. Grows Stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,235 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $5,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSX. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 41,633,333 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,339,555,000 after purchasing an additional 726,507 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in CSX by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 25,103,077 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $810,076,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,212 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of CSX by 1.2% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter worth $780,194,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 23,350,087 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $753,507,000 after purchasing an additional 6,730,316 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CSX shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on CSX from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.70.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $28.01 on Friday. CSX Co. has a twelve month low of $26.22 and a twelve month high of $37.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $52.79 billion, a PE ratio of 15.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50 day moving average is $30.58 and its 200 day moving average is $32.72.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, sell-side analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.