Calamos Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Calamos Advisors LLC reduced its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,304,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 73,319 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC owned 0.12% of CSX worth $79,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in CSX by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 274,065 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,502,000 after acquiring an additional 5,920 shares during the period. AIA Group Ltd boosted its holdings in CSX by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 10,573 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC boosted its holdings in CSX by 40.5% during the 4th quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 11,961 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $415,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in CSX by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 321,912 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,161,000 after acquiring an additional 32,221 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its holdings in CSX by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 296,757 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,289,000 after acquiring an additional 2,874 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Stock Up 0.7 %

CSX stock traded up $0.23 on Thursday, reaching $34.39. 25,705,972 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,095,874. CSX Co. has a one year low of $29.03 and a one year high of $40.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.32.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. CSX had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 25.35%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.97 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on CSX shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.72.

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.