Virtu Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 4,629 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,175,935,000 after purchasing an additional 790,420 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 46.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,948 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp grew its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,624,594 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $570,550,000 after purchasing an additional 142,070 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 5,119,674 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $519,843,000 after buying an additional 571,967 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 6.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,562,480 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $302,895,000 after buying an additional 158,757 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on CNI. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital lowered Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE CNI opened at $98.43 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $61.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.88. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $93.64 and a twelve month high of $132.73.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.6159 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.66%.

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.