Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 15.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,540 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 660 shares during the quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,395,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,813,534,000 after purchasing an additional 387,975 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,761,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,938 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,189,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,412,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280,726 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,067,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,421,649,000 after purchasing an additional 625,500 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,651,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,471,733,000 after purchasing an additional 314,600 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock opened at $118.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.60. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $103.96 and a one year high of $134.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $124.26 and its 200 day moving average is $126.22.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 23.27%. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 39.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on CNI shares. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research report on Friday, June 7th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $142.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $148.95.

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.