CSX (NASDAQ:CSX) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $41.78 and last traded at $41.68, with a volume of 10265995 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $41.36.

Key CSX News

Here are the key news stories impacting CSX this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CSX CEO said he is open to deals as rivals pursue large mergers, reigniting talk that rail consolidation could create strategic opportunities or a takeover premium for CSX. CSX chief executive open to deal as rivals pursue mega merger
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at Barclays’ Industrial Select Conference; the transcript provides detail on strategy, network performance and capital allocation — useful for assessing guidance and margin/cost dynamics but contains no surprise headlines. CSX Presents at Barclays Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Industry roundup (Class I briefs) includes operational notes on CSX alongside peers — useful context on network trends but not a direct catalyst. Class I Briefs: CSX, BNSF, CPKC
• Neutral Sentiment: St. Petersburg approved buying a CSX rail line for conversion to an urban trail — a local asset sale that may raise modest cash and reduce local maintenance obligations, but unlikely to move company-wide fundamentals. St. Pete City Council approves deal to purchase CSX rail line for urban trail
• Negative Sentiment: CSX Chief Accounting Officer Diana Sorfleet sold 90,000 shares (~$3.74M at ~$41.56), reducing her stake by ~35% — a large insider sale that can be read negatively by some investors. SEC filing: Insider sale filing
• Negative Sentiment: CSX reported that half of burned rail ties from a Dunnellon incident have been removed — a localized safety/maintenance issue that could create short-term costs or service disruption in the area. Half of burned rail ties moved out of Dunnellon, CSX says
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent short-interest reports appear to contain data errors (showing zero/NaN), so there’s no clear short-seller pressure signal from these filings. (Market data glitch — treat cautiously.)

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on CSX. Wolfe Research reduced their target price on shares of CSX from $43.00 to $42.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Evercore reduced their price objective on shares of CSX from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of CSX in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Argus upped their target price on CSX from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on CSX from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CSX has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.77.

CSX Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.69 and its 200 day moving average is $35.86. The company has a market cap of $78.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 1.30.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of CSX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSX. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new position in CSX in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. BNB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in CSX during the fourth quarter valued at $1,125,000. Align Financial LLC purchased a new position in CSX during the fourth quarter worth about $1,021,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in CSX by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 423,312 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,345,000 after acquiring an additional 18,025 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of CSX by 53.7% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 88,599 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,212,000 after acquiring an additional 30,947 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.57% of the company’s stock.

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.