Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded by National Bank Financial to “Outperform”

National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.71 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.62 EPS.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on CNI. Barclays increased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research note on Friday, June 7th. They set an equal weight rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Stephens reiterated an equal weight rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com lowered Canadian National Railway from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Canadian National Railway from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $148.95.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $118.13 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.84, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.90. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $103.96 and a one year high of $134.02.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.27% and a net margin of 32.81%. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.9 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 39.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $769,556,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 8,401.1% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 4,007,186 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $503,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960,049 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 63.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,623,561 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $957,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,951,506 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 92.4% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,505,860 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $593,911,000 after buying an additional 2,163,820 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,761,473,000 after buying an additional 1,907,938 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.