Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $28.02 Million in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 276,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,022,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 332 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 80.2% during the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 3,099 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,980 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $583,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 1.9 %

CNI opened at $97.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $61.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.98. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $93.64 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 26.09%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway 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 Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.6159 per share. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 47.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, TD Securities upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.19.

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.