CSX Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 31,140 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 121% compared to the typical volume of 14,092 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Angela C. Williams sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total value of $1,598,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 10,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $556,187.73. This trade represents a 74.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael S. Burns sold 13,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.68, for a total transaction of $684,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 59,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,141,993.24. This represents a 17.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CSX

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CSX. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in CSX in the second quarter worth $7,655,277,000. XXEC Inc. bought a new stake in CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at $765,595,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,598,962,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at $950,325,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of CSX during the 2nd quarter worth about $747,001,000. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $56.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of CSX from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective (up from $48.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on CSX from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on CSX from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.17.

CSX Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ CSX traded down $0.48 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $48.20. 2,671,945 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,341,714. CSX has a 12 month low of $33.63 and a 12 month high of $53.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.37.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. CSX had a net margin of 22.21% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that CSX will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 30th will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 30th. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.37%.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a transportation company whose primary business is freight railroading through its CSX Transportation subsidiary. The company operates an extensive rail network across the eastern United States, serving major industrial centers, population hubs, ports and distribution markets.

CSX transports a broad range of products, including chemicals, agricultural and food products, forest products, minerals, metals, automotive goods and other manufactured merchandise. Its services also include intermodal transportation, which combines rail service with trucks and containers, as well as the movement of coal and other bulk commodities.

The company traces its roots to the formation of CSX Corporation in 1980 through the merger of Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries.