Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 38.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,600 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 47,700 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $7,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 124.0% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the third quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Curio Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 31,600.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 317 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the third quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.2%

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $107.55 on Friday. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52-week low of $90.74 and a 52-week high of $108.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.43.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. Canadian National Railway’s revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.915 per share. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Evercore lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway 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.