Insider Buying: Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) Director Purchases 1,230 Shares of Stock

Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) Director Susan C. Jones purchased 1,230 shares of Canadian National Railway stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$162.05 per share, for a total transaction of C$199,324.82.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 1.5 %

CNR stock traded down C$2.49 during trading on Wednesday, hitting C$159.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,042,600 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,111,555. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of C$143.13 and a 52-week high of C$181.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$158.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$167.15. The firm has a market capitalization of C$100.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 107.62.

Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported C$1.84 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.93 by C($0.09). The company had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$4.40 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 32.02%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 8.8716518 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a dividend of $0.845 per share. This represents a $3.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNR. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$185.00 to C$180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from C$169.00 to C$160.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. CIBC lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from C$170.00 to C$160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Desjardins cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from C$192.00 to C$181.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Canadian National Railway to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$174.93.

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.