Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $125.04.

CNI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of CNI opened at $111.10 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $103.96 and a 1-year high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $125.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 32.00%. Canadian National Railway’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.614 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is 39.07%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 61.1% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 162,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,375,000 after buying an additional 61,498 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,602,728 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,351,000 after buying an additional 17,083 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the first quarter worth $627,000. YCG LLC lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. YCG LLC now owns 250,085 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $31,418,000 after buying an additional 14,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth about $816,000. 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.