Morgan Stanley Raises CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Price Target to $32.00

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $30.00 to $32.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential downside of 34.90% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Susquehanna raised their price objective on CSX from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Stephens increased their target price on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $53.00 target price (up from $51.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.26.

CSX Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of CSX stock opened at $49.16 on Monday. CSX has a 1-year low of $31.80 and a 1-year high of $49.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.34 billion, a PE ratio of 30.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.21.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.50 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.47% and a net margin of 21.55%.CSX’s revenue was up 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CSX news, Director John J. Zillmer sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.45, for a total value of $464,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 353,714 shares in the company, valued at $16,430,015.30. The trade was a 2.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevin S. Boone sold 136,708 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.70, for a total transaction of $6,384,263.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 208,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,742,647.40. This trade represents a 39.59% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in shares of CSX by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 8,282,107 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $300,226,000 after buying an additional 98,977 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC grew its position in CSX by 81.9% in the third quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 944,946 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $33,555,000 after acquiring an additional 425,395 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in CSX by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 423,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,345,000 after acquiring an additional 18,025 shares during the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its position in CSX by 6.8% during the first quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 238,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $9,803,000 after purchasing an additional 15,310 shares during the period. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in CSX by 20.6% during the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 207,454 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,367,000 after purchasing an additional 35,403 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CSX Company Profile

CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.

CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.