Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,423 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,395,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,813,534,000 after purchasing an additional 387,975 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of 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 last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,189,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,412,032,000 after buying an additional 1,280,726 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,651,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,471,733,000 after buying an additional 314,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.5 %

CNI stock opened at $118.77 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $103.96 and a 1-year high of $134.02. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $116.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 32.00%. The business had revenue of $4.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.614 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on 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 dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $128.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $146.25 to $130.67 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.35.

Canadian National Railway Profile

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.