Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $387,000 in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in CSX by 6.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,060,204 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of CSX by 9.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of CSX by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,592,143 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $400,277,000 after buying an additional 51,597 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in CSX by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,749,827 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,917,000 after buying an additional 1,884,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in CSX by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,521,214 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,178,000 after buying an additional 146,973 shares during the last quarter. 73.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CSX. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on CSX from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CSX from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Seven research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $38.78.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CSX opened at $35.78 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.19. CSX Co. has a twelve month low of $31.65 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.48 and a 200-day moving average of $33.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43.

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

CSX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 25.81%.

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.