Zacks: Analysts Anticipate CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX) Will Announce Earnings of $0.38 Per Share

Equities research analysts expect CSX Co. (NASDAQ:CSX – Get Rating) to report earnings of $0.38 per share for the current quarter, Zacks reports. Five analysts have provided estimates for CSX’s earnings, with the highest EPS estimate coming in at $0.40 and the lowest estimate coming in at $0.36. CSX posted earnings per share of $0.31 during the same quarter last year, which would suggest a positive year-over-year growth rate of 22.6%. The company is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report after the market closes on Monday, January 1st.

According to Zacks, analysts expect that CSX will report full year earnings of $1.78 per share for the current financial year, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.66 to $1.85. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the firm will report earnings of $1.92 per share, with EPS estimates ranging from $1.74 to $2.01. Zacks Investment Research’s earnings per share averages are a mean average based on a survey of research analysts that cover CSX.

CSX (NASDAQ:CSX – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 20th. The transportation company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.01. CSX had a return on equity of 26.34% and a net margin of 30.19%. The company had revenue of $3.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

CSX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded CSX from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $37.00 to $39.00 in a report on Thursday, March 17th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of CSX from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 7th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of CSX in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Cowen lifted their price objective on CSX from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on CSX from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CSX presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $38.71.

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CSX. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of CSX by 32.0% during the third quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 10,307 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 2,499 shares in the last quarter. Sigma Planning Corp grew its holdings in CSX by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 44,159 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after buying an additional 1,707 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of CSX by 1.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 736,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,902,000 after buying an additional 10,214 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its holdings in shares of CSX by 156.6% in the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 41,980 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 25,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Busey Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of CSX by 89.6% in the third quarter. Busey Wealth Management now owns 21,984 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 10,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.22% of the company’s stock.

CSX stock opened at $34.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $75.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.23. CSX has a fifty-two week low of $29.49 and a fifty-two week high of $38.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.34.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 28th were given a $0.10 dividend. This is a positive change from CSX’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 25th. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. CSX’s payout ratio is currently 23.81%.

CSX Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 transports chemicals, agricultural and food products, automotive, minerals, 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.

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