Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Buys 706 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 38,743 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 706 shares during the quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its stake in shares of CSX by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 31,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in CSX by 7.0% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,131 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 920 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in CSX by 21.7% during the third quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 9,235 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in CSX during the third quarter valued at $130,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in CSX by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 190,890 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,874,000 after purchasing an additional 13,055 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ CSX traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $34.22. 8,091,831 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,195,878. CSX Co. has a 12 month low of $29.03 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $36.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.64.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.01. CSX had a net margin of 24.75% and a return on equity of 29.58%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.66 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.48 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that CSX Co. will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

CSX has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on CSX from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. UBS Group decreased their target price on CSX from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of CSX in a research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.