Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI)

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 34.8% in Q1, owning a total of 132,354 shares valued at approximately $12.9 million.
• Several hedge funds made significant moves in CNI, with Norges Bank acquiring a new stake worth about $563 million and Royal Bank of Canada increasing its holdings by 7.5%.
• Despite a recent earnings miss with reported EPS of $1.35 against estimates of $1.37, Canadian National Railway also declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.6507, yielding 2.71% annually.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 34.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 132,354 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 34,143 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $12,899,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at about $563,048,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,757,038 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,817,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934,622 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,489,874 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $557,278,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380,554 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,822,063 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,199,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,133 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,814,469 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $488,488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,102,977 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut shares of Canadian National Railway from an "outperform" rating to an "in-line" rating and set a $105.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $124.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $118.36.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.5%

Canadian National Railway stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $95.87. The stock had a trading volume of 2,287,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,606,836. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52-week low of $91.65 and a 52-week high of $121.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $103.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market cap of $60.06 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.97.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.02). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 21.71% and a net margin of 26.63%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a $0.6507 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. Canadian National Railway's payout ratio is currently 50.19%.

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.