Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in CSX Corporation $CSX

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 13,326 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $633,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in CSX in the 2nd quarter worth about $685,418,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,423,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $620,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,440,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $224,809,000. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CSX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Argus set a $56.00 price target on shares of CSX in a report on Friday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of CSX from $49.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price (up from $48.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $60.00 target price (up from $55.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price target (up from $37.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.31.

Insider Transactions at CSX

In other news, CAO Angela C. Williams sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.29, for a total transaction of $1,598,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 10,437 shares in the company, valued at approximately $556,187.73. This represents a 74.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael S. Burns sold 13,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.68, for a total value of $684,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 59,643 shares in the company, valued at $3,141,993.24. This trade represents a 17.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 189,708 shares of company stock valued at $9,132,304 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CSX Price Performance

CSX stock opened at $50.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. CSX Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.80 and a 52-week high of $53.60. The firm has a market cap of $93.88 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.01.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.89 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 24.98% and a net margin of 22.21%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that CSX Corporation will post 2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CSX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 31st will be given a dividend of $0.14 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 31st. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. CSX’s payout ratio is 32.37%.

About CSX

CSX Corporation is a leading North American transportation company that provides rail-based freight services and supply-chain solutions. Its operating subsidiary, CSX Transportation, moves a wide range of goods for customers across multiple industries, using a combination of long-haul rail service, intermodal operations and terminal and yard services. The company focuses on delivering efficient, reliable freight transportation between major production centers, consumption markets and port gateways.

CSX’s freight portfolio includes intermodal containers and trailers, bulk commodities, industrial products and specialized unit trains.