Short Interest in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Grows By 54.2%

Key Points

• Short interest surged 54.2% to 4.65 million Canadian National Railway shares as of July 31, representing 0.8% of shares outstanding and 2.6 days of average trading volume.
• Canadian National Railway beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.50 in EPS and $3.35 billion in revenue, with revenue up 11.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.915 per share, equal to a 2.9% annualized yield. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $137.40.

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR was the target of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,651,995 shares, an increase of 54.2% from the July 15th total of 3,015,932 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,822,588 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

NYSE:CNI opened at $127.18 on Tuesday. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $90.74 and a one year high of $131.55. The stock has a market cap of $76.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $123.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI - Get Free Report) TSE: CNR last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.26 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.22% and a net margin of 26.92%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Canadian National Railway's payout ratio is presently 45.92%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 378.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 354 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $124.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. National Bank Financial set a $124.00 price objective on Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp began coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.40.

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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