PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its position in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 97.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,460 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 20,500 shares during the quarter. Canadian National Railway makes up about 1.5% of PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $4,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter worth $310,489,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,296,701 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $518,260,000 after buying an additional 1,439,617 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 1st quarter worth $112,216,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 20.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,638,443 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $646,983,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148,569 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 39.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,664,618 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $259,694,000 after acquiring an additional 755,518 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $99.00 to $97.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $114.00.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.5%

CNI stock opened at $95.00 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.60. Canadian National Railway Company has a fifty-two week low of $91.07 and a fifty-two week high of $113.08. The firm has a market cap of $58.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 31st. The transportation company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by $0.05. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.63% and a return on equity of 21.71%. The company had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Canadian National Railway’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 9th will be issued a $0.8875 dividend. This represents a $3.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 9th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 48.01%.

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.