Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $1.05 Billion Position in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services trimmed its stake in Canadian National by 9.2% in Q4 and now holds 10,584,719 shares worth about $1.05 billion (≈1.72% of the company).
• CN reported Q4 EPS of $1.49, beating estimates by $0.06, but revenue of $3.24 billion significantly missed expectations (~$4.43B); net margin was 27.3% and ROE 22.1%.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 ($3.66 annualized, 3.3% yield), and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $118.76 (10 Buy, 10 Hold).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its stake in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,584,719 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 1,076,172 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.72% of Canadian National Railway worth $1,046,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,300,252 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $2,291,562,000 after acquiring an additional 372,859 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 0.3% during 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 during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 13,894,922 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,310,600,000 after purchasing an additional 157,000 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $844,353,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,310 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted 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 purchasing an additional 35,938 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company's stock.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.0%

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $110.09 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.91. Canadian National Railway Company has a 12-month low of $90.74 and a 12-month high of $113.08. The firm's fifty day moving average is $105.36 and its 200 day moving average is $99.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were paid a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of 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. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore decreased their price target on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Bank of America raised Canadian National Railway from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.76.

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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