Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Given New $115.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) had its price target lowered by Citigroup from $119.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Barclays raised their target price on Canadian National Railway from $97.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Finally, Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently 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 $95.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.94. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $90.74 and a twelve month high of $108.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.07.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.01%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 2.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 12,072,540 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,255,385,000 after purchasing an additional 273,974 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter valued at $3,448,000. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 802,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $83,646,000 after acquiring an additional 71,364 shares in the last quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 23.3% in the third quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 83,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,834,000 after acquiring an additional 15,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.5% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Canadian National Railway

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

• Positive Sentiment: CN announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.915 per share (annualized yield ~3.8%); ex-dividend/record dates set and this is a 3.1% bump vs. the prior quarterly payout — a supportive signal for income-focused investors.
• Positive Sentiment: CN launched a new share buyback program to repurchase up to 24 million shares, which reduces share count and can be accretive to EPS and shareholder value. Canadian National Railway Launches New Share Buyback Program
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Tracy Robinson will speak at the Barclays Industrial Select Conference (Feb 17) and CFO Ghislain Houle will present at Citi’s Global Industrial Tech & Mobility Conference (Feb 18) — events that offer management a chance to update guidance and answer investor questions. Tracy Robinson to Address Barclays Conference Ghislain Houle to Address Citi Conference
• Neutral Sentiment: Brokerage consensus remains constructive (consensus “Moderate Buy”), which mitigates some negative pressure from individual target cuts. Consensus Rating of Moderate Buy
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays cut its CNI target to $135 and set an “equal weight” rating — a downward revision that likely contributed to selling pressure despite the still-large implied upside. Barclays Lowers Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its target to $115 but retained a “buy” rating; the cut reduces upside expectations and adds to the cluster of downward revisions. Citigroup Lowers Price Target Benzinga Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: RBC lowered its target slightly to $151 but kept an “outperform” stance — the reduction still weighs on near-term sentiment even if the target implies material upside. RBC Lowers Price Target TickerReport Coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Stephens and Evercore ISI also trimmed targets to $100 and $103 respectively, moving ratings to “equal weight”/”in-line” — these smaller cuts add to the downward analyst momentum. Stephens & Evercore Price Target Changes

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.