Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $118.9091.

Several analysts have commented on CNI shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and upped their target price for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Vertical Research raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore reduced their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Ruggaard & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Ruggaard & Associates LLC now owns 3,326 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 3,595 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,089,190 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $107,666,000 after acquiring an additional 216,316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 11,419 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $110.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $67.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $90.74 and a 1 year high of $111.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $101.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.42.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI) is a Class I freight railway that operates an integrated rail network across Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, CN provides long-haul freight transportation and related logistics services that connect major ports, industrial centers and inland markets throughout North America. Its transcontinental system enables cross-border movement of goods and supports supply chains that span coast-to-coast in Canada and into the central and eastern United States.

CN’s core business is the railborne transportation of a broad mix of commodities, including intermodal container traffic, forest and paper products, grain and other agricultural products, metallurgical and industrial products, petroleum and chemical products, coal and automotive shipments.