CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.4792.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on CSX shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on CSX from $39.00 to $42.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $36.00 price target (down from $37.00) on shares of CSX in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Argus increased their price objective on CSX from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $30.00 target price on shares of CSX and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CSX news, CAO Diana B. Sorfleet sold 90,000 shares of CSX stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.56, for a total value of $3,740,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 165,613 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,882,876.28. The trade was a 35.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Stephen Fortune sold 31,456 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.65, for a total transaction of $1,215,774.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,034 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,170,614.10. This trade represents a 27.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 188,123 shares of company stock valued at $7,454,854. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of CSX

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 16,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 849 shares during the period. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in CSX during the 2nd quarter worth $210,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its position in CSX by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC now owns 101,818 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,322,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the last quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of CSX in the 2nd quarter worth $807,000. 73.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Headlines Impacting CSX

Here are the key news stories impacting CSX this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity — investors bought roughly 21,889 call options on Wednesday (about a 225% jump versus typical call volume), indicating speculative or directional bullish bets that can lift near-term demand for the shares.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and performance snapshot — a Yahoo Finance analysis notes CSX shows YTD gains and strong 1‑year total shareholder return (33.6%) but has cooled recently with 1‑month weakness; the piece highlights mixed signals from valuation metrics vs. discounted cash‑flow (DCF) models. A Look At CSX (CSX) Valuation As Signals On Undervaluation And DCF Clash
• Neutral Sentiment: Local infrastructure news — a FreightWaves piece describes a transload provider reviving dormant Maine lines; modest regional rail activity like this is positive for freight flow but is unlikely to move CSX’s national earnings in the near term. Transload provider bringing new life to dormant Maine rail lines
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector caution — a Yahoo piece listing industrials to “think twice about” signals some investor caution toward parts of the industrials/transportation complex; this is a sector-level headwind rather than CSX-specific news. 3 Industrials Stocks We Think Twice About
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst action — Evercore ISI downgraded CSX from Outperform to In Line (though it nudged the price target up to $41), a change in the broker view that often triggers selling or reduced conviction among institutional holders. Evercore ISI Downgrades CSX Corporation (CSX) to In Line from Outperform
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑interest reports — multiple feeds flagged a large rise in short interest for March, but the reported figures contain inconsistencies (zero shares/NaN in the public summaries). Still, market reports of increased shorting can add downward pressure if traders treat the headlines as credible.

CSX Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CSX opened at $39.57 on Friday. CSX has a 12 month low of $26.22 and a 12 month high of $43.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.69. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.87.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. CSX had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 23.88%. The business’s revenue was down .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that CSX will post 1.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CSX Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 27th were given a dividend of $0.14 per share. This represents a $0.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. This is an increase from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. CSX’s payout ratio is 36.36%.

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.