Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 21,831 Shares of Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 10.0%, buying 21,831 shares to hold 240,244 shares valued at $22,651,000 per its latest 13F filing.
• Canadian National raised its quarterly dividend to $0.915 from $0.89 (annualized $3.66), implying a 3.4% yield with an ex-dividend date of March 10 and payment on March 31.
• Analysts are split (10 Buys, 10 Holds) with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $118.91, though several firms recently trimmed their targets.

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Free Report) TSE: CNR by 10.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 240,244 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,831 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $22,651,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the first quarter worth $311,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,514 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,122,000 after buying an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth $202,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 2,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Midwest Trust Co purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at about $229,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. 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. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Evercore dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:CNI opened at $106.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company's fifty day moving average price is $103.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.42. Canadian National Railway Company has a 1-year low of $90.74 and a 1-year high of $113.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.55, a PEG 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 results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.82 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.915 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway's previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Canadian National Railway's payout ratio is 49.36%.

Canadian National Railway 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.

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