Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 501 Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,301 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 501 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,986,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,334,251,000 after acquiring an additional 101,228 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 790,420 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,768,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,194,443,000 after purchasing an additional 309,210 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 worth $789,030,000 after buying an additional 2,137,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 worth $570,550,000 after buying an additional 142,070 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE CNI opened at $97.39 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $93.64 and a twelve month high of $132.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $61.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.58.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6159 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway 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.