Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Short Interest Up 26.3% in May

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,870,000 shares, an increase of 26.3% from the May 15th total of 6,230,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 959,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 8.2 days. Approximately 1.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on CNI. Bank of America upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com lowered Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $149.32.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 61.1% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 162,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,375,000 after acquiring an additional 61,498 shares during the period. YCG LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. YCG LLC now owns 250,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,418,000 after acquiring an additional 14,249 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,651,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,471,733,000 after acquiring an additional 314,600 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Manning & Napier Group LLC now owns 669,988 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $84,171,000 after acquiring an additional 46,517 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 40,965 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,146,000 after acquiring an additional 9,566 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNI traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $120.73. 1,964,944 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,003,493. The company has a market cap of $76.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.25, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $103.96 and a 1 year high of $134.02. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.25.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.27% and a net margin of 32.81%. Equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.08%.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks.