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

Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the nineteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $125.86.

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $131.00 to $124.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,175,935,000 after acquiring an additional 790,420 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 674,536 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.2% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 8,610,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,017,315,000 after acquiring an additional 99,716 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,948 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.7% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,482,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $642,828,000 after acquiring an additional 39,063 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE CNI opened at $109.19 on Wednesday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $105.28 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $68.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.33 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be paid a $0.6108 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.26%.

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.