Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded at TD Securities

TD Securities upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on CNI. Bank of America lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Veritas raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.77.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of CNI opened at $100.73 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $106.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.17. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $98.96 and a 12-month high of $134.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market cap of $63.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th were issued a dividend of $0.6108 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,948 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter worth approximately $216,943,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $159,907,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4,614.6% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,336,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $157,896,000 after buying an additional 1,307,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,175,935,000 after buying an additional 790,420 shares during the last quarter. 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.