Raymond James Issues Pessimistic Forecast for CNI Earnings

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Stock analysts at Raymond James cut their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for Canadian National Railway in a report released on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James analyst S. Hansen now anticipates that the transportation company will earn $1.26 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.37. The consensus estimate for Canadian National Railway’s current full-year earnings is $5.12 per share. Raymond James also issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.47 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.42 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $6.21 EPS.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CNI. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $104.58 on Monday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $98.96 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $104.48 and its 200-day moving average is $110.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNI. XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 43.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,822,000 after buying an additional 4,698 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 21,100 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA increased its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 363.6% in the 3rd quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 153,880 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,012,000 after acquiring an additional 120,687 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $464,002,000 after acquiring an additional 202,303 shares during the period. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 16.3% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 406,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 56,849 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.6159 per share. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.30%.

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.