CSX's (CSX) Outperform Rating Reaffirmed at Raymond James Financial

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has raised its price target for CSX stock from $39.00 to $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 11.14% from its previous close.
• Several other analysts, including Citigroup and Deutsche Bank, have also adjusted their ratings and price targets upwards, maintaining a largely positive outlook on CSX.
• CSX's latest quarterly earnings showed a net margin of 21.92%, with earnings per share exceeding estimates at $0.44, despite a slight revenue decline compared to the previous year.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Raymond James Financial in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $40.00 price target on the transportation company's stock, up from their prior price target of $39.00. Raymond James Financial's price objective suggests a potential upside of 8.27% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised CSX from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $37.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of CSX from $44.00 to $39.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and set a $41.00 target price (up previously from $40.00) on shares of CSX in a research report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on CSX from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded CSX to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.48.

CSX Stock Performance

Shares of CSX stock traded up $0.95 on Friday, hitting $36.94. 10,933,921 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,745,455. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.87 billion, a PE ratio of 22.85, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.29. CSX has a 1 year low of $26.22 and a 1 year high of $37.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.37.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The transportation company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.60 billion. CSX had a return on equity of 25.48% and a net margin of 21.92%.CSX's revenue for the quarter was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.83 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CSX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Rossby Financial LCC acquired a new position in CSX during the first quarter worth $28,000. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in shares of CSX in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CSX during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in CSX in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company's stock.

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.