CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.88% and a net margin of 24.75%. The company’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.48 EPS.

CSX Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $34.39 on Friday. CSX has a 12-month low of $29.03 and a 12-month high of $40.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.32.

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 1st quarter worth $71,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CSX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 21st. UBS Group decreased their target price on CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average 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.