CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Short Interest Up 19.6% in September

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 24,050,000 shares, an increase of 19.6% from the September 15th total of 20,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,740,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.2 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of CSX by 0.8% during the second quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 36,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,208,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in CSX by 2.7% in the second quarter. TriaGen Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $385,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in CSX by 0.3% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 103,563 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Team Hewins LLC increased its stake in CSX by 1.7% in the first quarter. Team Hewins LLC now owns 18,778 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $696,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in CSX by 4.8% in the second quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 6,985 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on CSX shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on CSX from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $42.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on CSX from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on CSX in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $42.00 target price on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.19.

CSX Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of CSX stock traded up $0.33 on Monday, hitting $35.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,824,964 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,463,404. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.01. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $29.03 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $33.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.19.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The transportation company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.01. CSX had a net margin of 24.52% and a return on equity of 29.11%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. CSX’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 26.37%.

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.