Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 86,451 Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX - Free Report) by 21.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 489,887 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 86,451 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in CSX were worth $16,916,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in CSX during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in CSX during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CSX Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:CSX traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.13. The stock had a trading volume of 11,420,815 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,738,677. The stock has a market cap of $69.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.19. The business's 50 day moving average is $34.19 and its 200 day moving average is $33.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.23. CSX Co. has a fifty-two week low of $30.30 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. CSX had a net margin of 24.77% and a return on equity of 28.92%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CSX Co. will post 1.84 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. CSX's payout ratio is 25.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CSX. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $39.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.72.

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.