Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Earns “Equal Weight” Rating from Stephens

Stephens reiterated their equal weight rating on shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $140.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CNI. Bank of America raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a hold rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. CIBC cut Canadian National Railway from a sector outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Canadian National Railway from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $149.05.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of CNI opened at $125.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.98, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average is $129.49 and its 200-day moving average is $122.34. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $103.96 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.81% and a return on equity of 23.27%. Equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of $0.625 per share. This represents a $2.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.03%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,983 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 706,327 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,516,000 after purchasing an additional 127,867 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 51.4% in the 3rd quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 2,726 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 926 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 19.8% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,148 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $233,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 2.8% during the third quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,477 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

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.