CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 4,684,201 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the previous session’s volume of 9,308,934 shares.The stock last traded at $32.20 and had previously closed at $32.16.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on CSX shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on CSX from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of CSX from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of CSX from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.78.

CSX Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $62.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by ($0.02). CSX had a return on equity of 28.92% and a net margin of 24.77%. The company had revenue of $3.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that CSX Co. will post 1.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in CSX by 20.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 467,399 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $16,139,000 after buying an additional 80,423 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in shares of CSX by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,374,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $116,521,000 after acquiring an additional 24,430 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 3.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,348,543 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $81,095,000 after purchasing an additional 77,488 shares in the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of CSX in the second quarter worth approximately $867,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in CSX by 318.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,270,966 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $112,946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,489,329 shares in the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CSX Company 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.