Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Makes New Investment in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P acquired a new stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 2,180 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $70,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in CSX in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 205.7% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,070 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on CSX from $39.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on CSX from $34.00 to $33.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.75.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX opened at $29.11 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25. CSX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $28.98 and a fifty-two week high of $37.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 0.86.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.44 by ($0.02). CSX had a net margin of 23.95% and a return on equity of 28.15%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This is a boost from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 29.05%.

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.