5 Best Transportation Stocks To Buy Heading Into 2023

3. CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 61

CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) is a Florida-based company that provides rail-based freight transportation services. The company offers rail services, transportation of intermodal containers and trailers, rail-to-truck transfers, and bulk commodity operations. On October 20, CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) reported a Q3 GAAP EPS of $0.52 and a revenue of $3.9 billion, outperforming Wall Street estimates by $0.03 and $150 million, respectively. Revenue over the period jumped 18.5% year-over-year, driven by higher fuel surcharge, pricing gains, a 2% increase in volumes, and a rise in storage and other revenues.

On November 29, Barclays analyst Brandon Oglenski raised the price target on CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) to $38 from $35 and maintained an Overweight rating on the shares. CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX) stands to benefit from leveraging “industry leading” service outcomes with long-term growth from customer projects, the analyst told investors. He said the shares “should appreciate from the current low end of industry valuation.”

According to Insider Monkey’s Q3 data, 61 hedge funds were bullish on CSX Corporation (NASDAQ:CSX), compared to 63 funds in the prior quarter. Eric W. Mandelblatt’s Soroban Capital Partners is the leading position holder in the company, with 57.6 million shares worth $1.5 billion. 

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Global Infrastructure Value Strategy has to say about CSX Corporation (NYSE:CSX) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“On a regional basis, the U.S. and Canada were the top contributors to quarterly performance, of which U.S. rail operator CSX was among the lead performers. CSX is one of five leading North American rail companies, with over 21,000 miles of rail, covering 23 states and 40+ ports. CSX is engaged in the transportation of rail freight in the Southeast, East, and Midwest via interchange with other rail carriers, to and from the rest of the U.S. and Canada. CSX performed well during the quarter after the company beat market expectations on its third-quarter results. The beats were largely driven by strong pricing, which could be hitting record highs, and healthy commodity/coal volume driven by the current energy crisis.”