Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have assigned a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $125.86.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America cut Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. 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 on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 price target on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.3 %

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $101.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $107.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.16. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of $98.96 and a 52-week high of $134.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were paid a $0.6108 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is 38.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,321,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at about $2,288,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 14.5% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $849,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.1% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 160,790 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $19,002,000 after purchasing an additional 6,297 shares during the period. Finally, Nicola Wealth Management LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 22.9% during the second quarter. Nicola Wealth Management LTD. now owns 133,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $15,735,000 after acquiring an additional 24,800 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.