Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . Approximately 4,909,980 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 216% from the previous session’s volume of 1,554,704 shares.The stock last traded at $124.1890 and had previously closed at $123.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $109.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$182.00 to C$185.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Stephens upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $124.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $124.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.40.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $125.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.12. The firm has a market cap of $74.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.94.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 22.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.82 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.34%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 15,745,744 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,557,309,000 after buying an additional 5,210,403 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.1% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 13,894,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,310,600,000 after buying an additional 157,000 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.0% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,077,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $934,488,000 after acquiring an additional 173,894 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 8,998,101 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $889,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,894,923 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $882,039,000 after acquiring an additional 268,776 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.