Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Cuts Stake in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital trimmed its position in Canadian National Railway by 4.8% in Q3, selling 305,090 shares and ending the quarter with 5,991,738 shares (about 0.97% of the company) worth roughly $565 million.
• Several analysts lowered price targets (e.g., Stephens to $100, RBC to $151, Barclays to $135, Evercore to $103) but the consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a $118.91 target, while the stock recently traded near $103.77, down about 2.3%.
• CN raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 (annualized $3.66) for a ~3.5% yield, with an ex-dividend date of March 10 and payment on March 31.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its position in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 4.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,991,738 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 305,090 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.97% of Canadian National Railway worth $564,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 83.3% in the third quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the third quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 30.8% during the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 603 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens reduced their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore decreased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $103.77 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $103.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.11, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52-week low of $90.74 and a 52-week high of $113.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.67.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. Analysts expect that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is 49.36%.

About Canadian National Railway

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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