Venturi Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 17.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,978 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,233 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CSX. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new position in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $83,301,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in CSX by 318.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,270,966 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $112,946,000 after buying an additional 2,489,329 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in CSX by 10.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,612,862 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $539,112,000 after buying an additional 1,447,651 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in CSX by 616.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,114,542 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,966,000 after buying an additional 958,957 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in CSX by 3.6% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 24,656,931 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $851,404,000 after buying an additional 857,302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock opened at $32.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The company has a market cap of $62.50 billion, a PE ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $32.67 and a 200 day moving average of $33.78. CSX Co. has a 52 week low of $31.43 and a 52 week high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is 29.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Susquehanna cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.16.

About CSX

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.