Cascade Financial Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Cascade Financial Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,410 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the quarter. Cascade Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in CSX were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 180.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 72,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,330,000 after buying an additional 46,473 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,084,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in CSX by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,374,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,521,000 after purchasing an additional 24,430 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in CSX by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 612,051 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,751,000 after purchasing an additional 8,474 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in CSX by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 653,025 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $22,549,000 after purchasing an additional 41,547 shares during the period. 73.57% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $37.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 24th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised CSX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $37.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.00.

CSX Trading Down 3.7 %

CSX stock opened at $29.52 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.58. CSX Co. has a 12 month low of $29.50 and a 12 month high of $38.14. The company has a market capitalization of $55.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 1.25.

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

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. CSX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.05%.

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.