Markel Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Markel Group boosted its Canadian National Railway stake by 78% in the fourth quarter, adding 19,500 shares to bring its total to 44,500 shares worth about $4.4 million.
• Other major institutional investors, including Vanguard and Bank of Montreal, also increased their holdings, and institutions now own about 80.74% of CNI shares.
• Canadian National Railway reported quarterly earnings and revenue that matched analyst estimates, and it announced a $0.915 quarterly dividend with a 3.2% annualized yield. Analysts currently have a consensus rating of Hold with a target price of about $122.04.

Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 78.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,500 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 19,500 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $4,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNI. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,646,922 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $2,437,679,000 after purchasing an additional 346,670 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake 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 valued at $1,338,948,000 after purchasing an additional 42,907 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 13,894,922 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,310,600,000 after purchasing an additional 157,000 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 639,137.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,955,711 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $844,353,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake 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 valued at $813,287,000 after purchasing an additional 35,938 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on CNI shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $113.88 to $117.36 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian National Railway from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore cut their price target on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Canadian National Railway from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $122.04.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock opened at $114.24 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.95. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $108.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.03. Canadian National Railway Company has a 1-year low of $90.74 and a 1-year high of $115.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.31. The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.15 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 27.22%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.85 EPS. Analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.73%.

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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