EP Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $6.86 Million in CSX Corporation $CSX

EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 144,398 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,863,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in CSX by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 849 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its stake in shares of CSX by 3.2% in the second quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 74,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,428,000 after purchasing an additional 2,281 shares during the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 0.8% during the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 405,828 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $13,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,162 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in CSX by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 148,355 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $5,268,000 after buying an additional 27,280 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of CSX from $46.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus set a $56.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on CSX from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.31.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CSX opened at $51.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.82, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.21. CSX Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.80 and a 12 month high of $53.60. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.02. CSX had a net margin of 22.21% and a return on equity of 24.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that CSX Corporation will post 2 EPS for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be issued a $0.14 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. CSX’s payout ratio is presently 32.37%.

Insider Activity

In other CSX news, CFO Kevin S. Boone sold 136,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.70, for a total value of $6,384,263.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 208,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,742,647.40. This represents a 39.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Angela C. Williams sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total transaction of $1,598,700.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 10,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,187.73. The trade was a 74.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 189,708 shares of company stock worth $9,132,304 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CSX 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.