Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Acquires 232,120 Shares of Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 31.3%, buying an additional 232,120 shares to hold 974,350 shares (about $96.3 million total) after the quarter.
• CN reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter (beating the $1.43 estimate) but revenue of $3.24 billion missed expectations; analysts are split (10 Buy, 10 Hold) with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a $118.76 price target.
• Canadian National raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 (up from $0.89), equal to a $3.66 annualized payout and a ~3.3% yield with a payout ratio of ~49.4%.

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 974,350 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 232,120 shares during the quarter. Canadian National Railway comprises approximately 0.0% of Cardinal Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. owned 0.16% of Canadian National Railway worth $96,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 10.1% during the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. ICW Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 0.7% during the third quarter. ICW Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,525 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,109 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.9% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,014 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $661,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 10.9% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,377 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CNI shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $97.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Evercore cut 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 research report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $118.76.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

CNI stock opened at $110.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $105.09 and a 200-day moving average of $99.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Canadian National Railway Company has a 12 month low of $90.74 and a 12 month high of $113.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.36%.

Canadian National Railway 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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