Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Grows Position in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Duff & Phelps raised its position in Canadian National Railway by 71.4% in Q3 to 302,540 shares, now worth about $28.54 million.
• Canadian National increased its quarterly dividend to $0.915 (annualized $3.66) for a ~3.4% yield, payable March 31 with an ex-dividend date of March 10.
• Institutional ownership is high (~80.74%); analysts are split (average rating "Moderate Buy" with a $118.91 target) after CN posted an EPS beat ($1.49 vs. $1.43) but missed revenue expectations.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 71.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 302,540 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 126,063 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $28,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,300,252 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,291,562,000 after buying an additional 372,859 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,201,675 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,338,948,000 after buying an additional 42,907 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 8,626,147 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $813,287,000 after buying an additional 35,938 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,705,679 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $695,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,978 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 6,471,710 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $610,076,000 after acquiring an additional 671,127 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "hold" rating to an "outperformer" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a report on Friday, November 28th. Evercore dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock opened at $106.18 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $65.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Company has a one year low of $90.74 and a one year high of $113.08. The company's 50-day moving average is $103.44 and its 200 day moving average is $98.42.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.915 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Canadian National Railway's payout ratio is currently 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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