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CSX (CSX) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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CSX (CSX - Free Report) closed at $31.58 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.38% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.99%. At the same time, the Dow added 1.61%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.06%.

Heading into today, shares of the freight railroad had lost 9.66% over the past month, lagging the Transportation sector's loss of 6.77% and the S&P 500's loss of 7.24% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from CSX as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.47, up 17.5% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $3.63 billion, up 21.4% from the year-ago period.

CSX's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.82 per share and revenue of $14.32 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +16.67% and +14.36%, respectively.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for CSX. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. CSX currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, CSX is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 17.1. This represents a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 18.64.

We can also see that CSX currently has a PEG ratio of 1.69. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Transportation - Rail was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.88 at yesterday's closing price.

The Transportation - Rail industry is part of the Transportation sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 166, putting it in the bottom 35% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow CSX in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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