Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Stock Has Average Price Target of $138.76

Shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $138.76.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNI. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Canadian National Railway from $146.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $143.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 1.9%

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $124.07 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $121.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.05. The firm has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.90. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of $90.74 and a 52-week high of $131.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.82.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The transportation company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.05. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.42% and a return on equity of 22.82%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.83 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 99.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.85 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 9th will be given a dividend of C$0.92 per share. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is presently 45.30%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,077,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $934,488,000 after purchasing an additional 173,894 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.8% during the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 4,546,356 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $532,519,000 after purchasing an additional 248,401 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,761,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $180,986,000 after buying an additional 367,100 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 8.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,382,499 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $142,066,000 after purchasing an additional 101,861 shares during the period. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.8% during the second quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,254,252 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $149,384,000 after acquiring an additional 68,791 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

Canadian National Railway, commonly known as CN, is a North American transportation and logistics company that operates a freight rail network connecting Canada’s Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts with the United States. Its network serves customers across Canada and the U.S. Midwest and South.

CN transports a range of commodities and manufactured goods, including intermodal shipments, grain and fertilizers, petroleum and chemicals, forest products, metals and minerals, and finished vehicles.