CSX Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:CSX)

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 93,287 call options on the company. This is an increase of 349% compared to the average volume of 20,779 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CSX shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of CSX in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Susquehanna reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Baird R W upgraded CSX to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $32.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Monday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.32.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the first quarter valued at about $182,550,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of CSX by 21.6% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 28,383,830 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $835,336,000 after buying an additional 5,033,743 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of CSX by 1,283.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,190,452 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $123,786,000 after buying an additional 3,887,644 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the fourth quarter valued at about $117,133,000. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of CSX by 34.5% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 13,017,397 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $364,357,000 after buying an additional 3,341,136 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CSX Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of CSX stock opened at $33.82 on Thursday. CSX has a 52-week low of $26.22 and a 52-week high of $37.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.02. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%.The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th were paid a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 29th. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 32.10%.

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.