CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,265 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $217,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of CSX by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $614,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of CSX by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,210 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,244 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in CSX by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its position in CSX by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 14,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $434,000 after acquiring an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on CSX shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on CSX from $37.00 to $36.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America decreased their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.72.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSX traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $34.34. The company had a trading volume of 13,615,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,428,632. The business has a 50 day moving average of $36.88 and a 200-day moving average of $34.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.15. CSX Co. has a 1-year low of $29.03 and a 1-year high of $40.12. The company has a market cap of $67.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.18.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.66 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 29.58% and a net margin of 24.75%. The business’s revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 29th were issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 28th. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 26.37%.

About CSX

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.