Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $118.9091.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Vertical Research raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens decreased their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

CNI opened at $100.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market cap of $61.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.56, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.90. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $90.74 and a 1-year high of $113.08.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth $12,429,000. Nalls Sherbakoff Group LLC bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. SHP Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth $237,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth $1,592,000. Finally, Tobam boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 1,662 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian National Railway

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.