UBS Group Downgrades Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) to Hold

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was downgraded by investment analysts at UBS Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Vertical Research raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $96.48 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $59.28 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.04. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $90.74 and a twelve month high of $108.75.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 27.28%.The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,072,540 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,255,385,000 after purchasing an additional 273,974 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter worth $3,448,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.8% in the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 802,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $83,646,000 after buying an additional 71,364 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 23.3% during the third quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 83,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after buying an additional 15,715 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 742,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,038,000 after acquiring an additional 10,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Key Canadian National Railway News

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian National Railway this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company raised its quarterly dividend (to $0.915/share, ~3.1% increase year-over-year), boosting yield and income appeal for investors. (No link provided)
• Positive Sentiment: Senior management will speak at two upcoming conferences (CEO Tracy Robinson at Barclays; CFO Ghislain Houle at Citi), giving investors fresh access to guidance and operational commentary. Tracy Robinson to Address Barclays Conference CFO to Address Citi Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Several brokers maintained constructive stances despite lowering targets — Citigroup kept a “buy” rating (PT cut to $115), implying mid-teens upside from current levels. Citigroup / BayStreet
• Neutral Sentiment: Barclays lowered its price target to $135 but set an “equal weight” rating (still signaling material upside vs today’s price). Barclays / BayStreet
• Neutral Sentiment: Other shops trimmed targets but kept neutral/in-line ratings (Evercore cut to $103; Stephens cut to $100), reflecting modestly reduced expectations rather than outright pessimism. Evercore/Stephens / Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: UBS downgraded CNI from “strong-buy” to “hold,” which likely put downward pressure on momentum traders and income-oriented funds that follow UBS views. UBS downgrade / Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Across the board there is a trend of lowered price targets; the cluster of cuts signals tempered 12–18 month expectations and is a headwind for near-term price appreciation. Analyst coverage roundup / Benzinga

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI) is a Class I freight railway that operates an integrated rail network across Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, CN provides long-haul freight transportation and related logistics services that connect major ports, industrial centers and inland markets throughout North America. Its transcontinental system enables cross-border movement of goods and supports supply chains that span coast-to-coast in Canada and into the central and eastern United States.

CN’s core business is the railborne transportation of a broad mix of commodities, including intermodal container traffic, forest and paper products, grain and other agricultural products, metallurgical and industrial products, petroleum and chemical products, coal and automotive shipments.