Davis Rea LTD. Purchases New Shares in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI)

Davis Rea LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 35,812 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,487,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $470,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 147,878 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $15,017,000 after buying an additional 9,340 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,986,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,334,251,000 after purchasing an additional 101,228 shares in the last quarter. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter worth about $92,000. Finally, Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $52,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

CNI stock traded down $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $95.99. 399,899 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,453,018. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Canadian National Railway Company has a twelve month low of $91.65 and a twelve month high of $121.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $104.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.60. The company has a market capitalization of $60.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.97.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.35 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.37 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.34 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 21.95% and a net margin of 26.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 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 Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.6507 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 8th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on CNI. Bank of America increased their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Argus raised Canadian National Railway to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. National Bank Financial cut shares of Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $118.36.

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.