Jefferies Financial Group Initiates Coverage on CSX (NASDAQ:CSX)

Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) in a report issued on Monday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “hold” rating and a $40.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 10.19% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut CSX from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of CSX in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on CSX from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.06.

CSX Stock Performance

NASDAQ CSX opened at $36.30 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $71.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.09. CSX has a 1-year low of $29.03 and a 1-year high of $40.12.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.01. CSX had a return on equity of 30.52% and a net margin of 25.35%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that CSX will post 1.96 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in CSX by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $614,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in CSX by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,210 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $978,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in CSX by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 120,244 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp grew its holdings in CSX by 12.1% in the third quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 3,064 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FCA Corp TX grew its holdings in CSX by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. FCA Corp TX now owns 115,572 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,007,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.