Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded by Evercore ISI to “Strong-Buy” Rating

Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.86.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE:CNI opened at $101.17 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $99.90 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The company has a market cap of $63.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.54.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of $0.6108 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 38.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,175,935,000 after acquiring an additional 790,420 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Canadian National Railway by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,365,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,106,361,000 after purchasing an additional 674,536 shares in the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 8,610,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,017,315,000 after purchasing an additional 99,716 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,482,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $642,828,000 after purchasing an additional 39,063 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.