Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded at Evercore ISI

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Citigroup raised Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $116.00 target price on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Veritas upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $125.86.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of CNI opened at $101.17 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $99.90 and a 12-month high of $134.02.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. Canadian National Railway’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.6108 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is 38.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 29.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 21,100 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 82.3% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 6,261 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 115.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,382 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 2,346 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 5.0% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,712,000 after buying an additional 1,903 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Resource Group boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 13.4% in the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 8,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.