Short Interest in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Drops By 53.6%

Key Points

• Short interest in Canadian National Railway fell sharply in June, dropping 53.6% to 2.81 million shares by June 30. That represents just 0.5% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 1.7 days.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed but constructive, with nine Buy ratings and nine Hold ratings. The stock’s average rating is “Moderate Buy,” and the consensus price target is $132.12.
• CN continues to show solid fundamentals and shareholder returns, reporting quarterly EPS and revenue in line with expectations and paying a quarterly dividend of $0.915 per share. The annualized dividend is $3.66 per share, implying a 2.9% yield.

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 2,806,164 shares, a decrease of 53.6% from the June 15th total of 6,044,119 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,658,988 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Canadian National Railway from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from C$182.00 to C$185.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Stephens raised Canadian National Railway to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $124.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $132.12.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 2.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 635 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Tacita Capital Inc lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Tacita Capital Inc now owns 19,809 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,960,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 7,233 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Patten Group Inc. boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 8,326 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of CNI stock traded down $0.36 on Tuesday, reaching $124.95. 181,868 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,587,136. The company has a market cap of $75.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.67. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $90.74 and a 1 year high of $126.12.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last released its quarterly 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. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.22% and a return on equity of 21.90%. The firm had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.85 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Canadian National Railway's dividend payout ratio is presently 48.55%.

Canadian National Railway Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.