Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $120.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $132.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on CNI. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Veritas raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of CNI stock opened at $101.54 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $98.96 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s fifty day moving average is $105.44 and its 200 day moving average is $111.91. The stock has a market cap of $63.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 43.3% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,822,000 after buying an additional 4,698 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 363.6% during the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 153,880 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $18,012,000 after buying an additional 120,687 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after acquiring an additional 21,100 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $464,002,000 after buying an additional 202,303 shares during the period. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 16.3% during the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 406,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,571,000 after acquiring an additional 56,849 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

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.