Sterling Investment Management LLC Reduces Stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Sterling Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 26,729 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the period. Canadian National Railway comprises about 2.5% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $3,358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNI. BCK Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the first quarter worth approximately $2,575,000. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 26.2% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 931,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $124,888,000 after purchasing an additional 193,116 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 3.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 762,341 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $102,260,000 after purchasing an additional 22,984 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 60,441 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $8,107,000 after purchasing an additional 807 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 18.9% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 33,602 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,511,000 after purchasing an additional 5,349 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $131.62 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.61. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $128.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.47. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $103.96 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02. The firm has a market cap of $84.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 33.38% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.638 per share. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $2.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.43%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. CIBC downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Stephens upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.45.

About Canadian National Railway

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks.