First Trust Advisors LP Acquires 34,314 Shares of Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 9.2% in Q3, acquiring 34,314 shares to hold 409,077 shares (about 0.07% of the company) valued at roughly $38.6 million.
• Canadian National reported an EPS beat of $1.49 versus $1.43 expected while revenue of $3.24 billion missed estimates, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 (annualized $3.66, ~3.5% yield; ex-dividend March 10).
• Institutional ownership is high at 80.74%, with large recent buys or stake increases from firms including Norges Bank, Fisher Asset Management, Troy Asset Management, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company, and Arrowstreet Capital.

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,077 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 34,314 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.07% of Canadian National Railway worth $38,576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Norges Bank bought a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 2nd quarter worth $591,904,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter valued at about $189,748,000. Troy Asset Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 158.8% during the 3rd quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,738,372 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $258,220,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,223 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 26.6% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,705,679 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $695,048,000 after buying an additional 1,408,978 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 20.1% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,296,828 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $655,768,000 after buying an additional 1,051,977 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $103.77 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $103.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.46. 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. The company has a market cap of $63.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.915 dividend. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Canadian National Railway from a "hold" rating to an "outperformer" rating and raised their target price for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research note on Friday, November 28th. UBS Group lowered Canadian National Railway from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.