Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Rating Increased to Outperform at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial upgraded Canadian National Railway from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Canadian National Railway from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and set a $125.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $126.02.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock opened at $115.84 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.66. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of $103.96 and a 52-week high of $134.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.00% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a $0.614 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is 39.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $593,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,820 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 9.6% in 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. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,003,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,185,647,000 after buying an additional 1,379,976 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 4,614.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,336,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $157,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,689 shares during the period. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at about $134,096,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.