Ballentine Partners LLC Buys Shares of 1,543 Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,543 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $2,813,534,000 after acquiring 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% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,761,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,938 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,189,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,412,032,000 after buying an additional 1,280,726 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 5.0% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 625,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 314,600 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on CNI shares. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $148.95.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of CNI opened at $118.25 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $103.96 and a 1-year high of $134.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $124.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $126.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.86, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.08%.

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.