Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Receives $125.86 Average Target Price from Analysts

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $125.86.

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Bank of America lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Thursday, October 24th.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock opened at $102.53 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Canadian National Railway has a 52 week low of $98.96 and a 52 week high of $134.02.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.31 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th were given a dividend of $0.6108 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 38.14%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

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

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.