Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Stake Raised by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. grew its position in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 1,101.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 553,290 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 507,254 shares during the quarter. Canadian National Railway makes up about 4.7% of Value Partners Investments Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Value Partners Investments Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Canadian National Railway worth $53,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,934,622 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,986,678 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,334,251,000 after acquiring an additional 101,228 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,341,133 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,768,500 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,194,443,000 after acquiring an additional 309,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 9,159,075 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $926,573,000 after acquiring an additional 422,078 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $114.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. 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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.52.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

CNI stock traded down $0.54 during trading on Friday, hitting $103.35. 2,783,872 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,321,782. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52 week low of $91.65 and a 52 week high of $123.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $64.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $102.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.43.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The transportation company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.03. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.19% and a return on equity of 22.29%. The business had revenue of $3.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.8875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.47%. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway's previous dividend of $0.29. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

About Canadian National Railway

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.