Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Given New $151.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) had its target price cut by Royal Bank Of Canada from $153.00 to $151.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on CNI. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays upped their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Canadian National Railway stock 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 50-day moving average price of $98.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.07. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $90.74 and a 12-month high of $108.75. The stock has a market cap of $58.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.915 per share. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. 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. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.01%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 639,137.0% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,955,711 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $844,353,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,310 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $591,904,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $189,748,000. Troy Asset Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 158.8% during the 3rd quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,738,372 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $258,220,000 after buying an additional 1,680,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1,693.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 1,739,700 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $164,043,000 after buying an additional 1,642,700 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting 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

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.