Stifel Nicolaus Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Stock

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) had its price target hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $120.00 to $125.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CNI. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $174.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Securities upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock opened at $104.58 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $98.96 and a 12-month high of $134.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.6159 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 38.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% in 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 buying an additional 790,420 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in 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 buying an additional 2,137,948 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,624,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $570,550,000 after buying an additional 142,070 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,119,674 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $519,843,000 after purchasing an additional 571,967 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 5.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $464,002,000 after purchasing an additional 202,303 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.