CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Short Interest Update

CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,660,000 shares, a growth of 15.0% from the September 30th total of 24,050,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 11,280,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on CSX from $43.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of CSX in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.61.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of CSX by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 65,251,716 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,418,883,000 after acquiring an additional 443,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in CSX by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 17,133,857 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $573,128,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,204 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in CSX by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,421,862 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $415,466,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060,617 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in CSX by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,749,827 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $225,917,000 after buying an additional 1,884,998 shares during the period. Finally, Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in CSX by 849.0% during the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 5,118,751 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $171,222,000 after buying an additional 4,579,344 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of CSX stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.25. 13,081,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,640,576. The company's 50 day moving average price is $34.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.83. The company has a market cap of $65.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.46, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.19. CSX has a 12 month low of $29.26 and a 12 month high of $40.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.16.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.48 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 29.11% and a net margin of 24.52%. The firm had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. CSX's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that CSX will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. CSX's payout ratio is currently 26.37%.

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.