Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Price Target Cut to $103.00 by Analysts at Evercore ISI

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) had its price target reduced by Evercore ISI from $105.00 to $103.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CNI. Vertical Research raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. CIBC upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “outperformer” rating and raised their target price for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $148.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Susquehanna boosted 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock opened at $95.68 on Monday. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $90.74 and a 12-month high of $108.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 22.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. High Point Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 124.0% in the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.