California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,626,847 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 175,371 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of CSX worth $125,743,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CSX. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 416.8% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,070,296 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $155,912,000 after purchasing an additional 4,089,150 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 10.4% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 29,191,044 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $897,624,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,738 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 68.1% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,234,797 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $160,970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119,965 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 29.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,160,597 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $220,189,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 43.8% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 4,752,117 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $146,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,446,685 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ CSX opened at $34.72 on Wednesday. CSX Co. has a one year low of $29.03 and a one year high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $67.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.15.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.48 EPS. Analysts expect that CSX Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 29th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 28th. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.11. CSX’s payout ratio is 26.37%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CSX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of CSX from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.00.

CSX 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.