Royal Bank Of Canada Increases Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Price Target to $178.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target on Canadian National Railway to $178 (from $160) and maintained an outperform rating, implying roughly a 59.8% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst consensus remains a "Hold" with an average target of $121.94, while CN's recent Q1 results showed a slight EPS beat ($1.49 vs. $1.43), revenue up 2.4% year‑over‑year, and the company announced a C$0.915 Q2 dividend (≈3.4% yield).

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR had its target price raised by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $160.00 to $178.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "outperform" rating on the transportation company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's target price indicates a potential upside of 59.81% from the stock's current price.

CNI has been the subject of a number of other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. UBS Group lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $121.94.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of CNI traded up $3.30 on Thursday, hitting $111.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,261,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,657,471. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $90.74 and a fifty-two week high of $115.80. The company has a market capitalization of $67.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.52, a PEG ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.91. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $107.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.25.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 27.28%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $507,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 19,809 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 7,233 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,231 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Canadian National Railway

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian National Railway this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results showed generally solid operational and commercial performance with revenue up year‑over‑year and management commentary highlighting volume growth that offset mixed segment trends — this supports near‑term outlook and investor confidence. CN Reports Strong First Quarter Operational and Commercial Performance
• Positive Sentiment: Company announced a second‑quarter dividend of C$0.915 per share (paid June 30; record June 9), raising/continuing attractive yield (~3.4%) — shareholder returns likely helped support the stock. CN Declares Second-Quarter 2026 Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets reported Q1 results that met or beat expectations on key metrics (revenue up, EPS roughly in line or modestly ahead of consensus depending on the source) — the underlying beat/meet reduces downside risk from earnings surprise. Canadian National Q1 Earnings Meet Estimates, Revenues Increase Y/Y
• Neutral Sentiment: CN filed a shelf prospectus/SEC registration to allow issuance of debt securities over the next 37 months — gives financing flexibility but may increase debt issuance risk if executed. CN Files Shelf Prospectus Qualifying the Issuance of Debt Securities
• Neutral Sentiment: Management provided an earnings presentation and call materials that investors can use to assess segment dynamics and cost trends — useful detail but no new guidance was issued. Canadian National Railway Company 2026 Q1 - Results - Earnings Call Presentation
• Negative Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target slightly (from $98 to $99) but kept an "equal weight" rating; the new target implies downside versus the current market level and signals at least one analyst is cautious on near‑term upside. Benzinga

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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