Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sets New 1-Year Low After Analyst Downgrade

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after Loop Capital downgraded the stock from a hold rating to a sell rating. The company traded as low as $98.95 and last traded at $100.39, with a volume of 382203 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $104.51.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CNI. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $131.00 to $124.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.19.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNI. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 43.3% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position 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 buying an additional 21,100 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its stake 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 valued at $18,012,000 after buying an additional 120,687 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 5.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $464,002,000 after acquiring an additional 202,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 406,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,571,000 after purchasing an additional 56,849 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $64.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.22 and its 200-day moving average is $110.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. On average, equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.6159 per share. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is 48.05%.

Canadian National Railway Company 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.