Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $130.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $126.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on CNI. Royal Bank of Canada raised Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $116.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.48.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $111.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.89. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $107.54 and a 1 year high of $134.02.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.6108 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 92.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,505,860 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $593,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,820 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 18.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,003,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,185,647,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,976 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4,614.6% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,336,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $157,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307,689 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at approximately $134,096,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.8% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,365,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,106,361,000 after purchasing an additional 674,536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks.