QV Investors Inc. Buys 43,523 Shares of Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• QV Investors increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 7.4% in Q4, buying 43,523 shares to hold 629,069 shares worth about $62.3 million, which represents roughly 5.1% of QV's portfolio and is its third-largest holding.
• Canadian National reported Q4 EPS of $1.49, beating estimates by $0.06, but revenue of $3.24 billion trailed analyst expectations; the stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $115.70.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 (annualized $3.66), implying a yield of about 3.5% and a payout ratio near 49.4%.

QV Investors Inc. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 629,069 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 43,523 shares during the quarter. Canadian National Railway makes up about 5.1% of QV Investors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. QV Investors Inc. owned 0.10% of Canadian National Railway worth $62,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the first quarter worth about $311,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,514 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,122,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 2nd quarter worth about $202,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 40,778 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $4,243,000 after buying an additional 4,376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 6,629 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.0%

CNI opened at $104.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $104.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $99.21. Canadian National Railway Company has a 1-year low of $90.74 and a 1-year high of $113.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 27.28%.The business had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS 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 paid 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 was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is 49.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNI. Evercore reduced their target price 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. Citigroup lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens decreased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $115.70.

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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