Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $138.76 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is mixed: Nineteen firms have a consensus “Hold” rating on Canadian National Railway, with 10 holds and 9 buys. Their average 12-month price target is $138.76.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $1.54, above the $1.49 consensus, and revenue of $3.35 billion, also ahead of estimates.
• Canadian National Railway announced a quarterly dividend of C$0.92 per share, equivalent to an annualized C$3.66 and a reported yield of 2.9%.

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $138.76.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on CNI shares. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Stephens upgraded Canadian National Railway to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $126.20 on Wednesday. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $90.74 and a fifty-two week high of $131.55. The stock has a market cap of $76.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $121.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.63.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $1.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.05. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 99.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of C$0.92 per share. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is 45.30%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 1st quarter worth $59,507,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter worth about $65,922,000. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 26.3% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,761,000 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $180,986,000 after buying an additional 367,100 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.8% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,546,356 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $532,519,000 after buying an additional 248,401 shares during the period. Finally, Ninepoint Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,933,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company NYSE: CNI is a transportation and logistics company that operates a major freight railway network across Canada and the United States. The company provides rail, intermodal and related transportation services for shippers, connecting production and consumption centers with ports and distribution hubs.

CN transports a broad range of commodities and manufactured goods, including petroleum and chemicals, grain and fertilizers, forest products, metals and minerals, coal, automotive products and consumer goods.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.