Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Consensus "Hold": Nineteen brokerages rate Canadian National an average of "Hold" (10 hold, 9 buy) with a 12‑month average price target of $119.14.
• Most recent quarter delivered $1.49 EPS (beating the $1.43 estimate) but revenue of $3.24B missed expectations, and analysts project about 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Dividend increased: CN raised its quarterly payout to $0.915 (from $0.89), equal to $3.66 annualized and a ~3.3% yield, with a payout ratio near 49%.

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $119.1360.

Several analysts have weighed in on CNI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Vertical Research raised Canadian National Railway from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $113.88 to $117.36 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised Canadian National Railway from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 9th.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $110.36 on Friday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $106.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $67.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.91. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $90.74 and a fifty-two week high of $113.08.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 27.28%.The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.82 EPS. As a group, analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway's payout ratio is presently 49.36%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. High Point Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 83.3% during the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

Canadian National Railway Company NYSE: CNI is a Class I freight railway that operates an integrated rail network across Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, CN provides long-haul freight transportation and related logistics services that connect major ports, industrial centers and inland markets throughout North America. Its transcontinental system enables cross-border movement of goods and supports supply chains that span coast-to-coast in Canada and into the central and eastern United States.

CN's core business is the railborne transportation of a broad mix of commodities, including intermodal container traffic, forest and paper products, grain and other agricultural products, metallurgical and industrial products, petroleum and chemical products, coal and automotive shipments.

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