Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Evercore ISI

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

CNI has been the topic of several other reports. Veritas upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $126.00 to $130.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $131.00 to $124.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.86.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $101.17 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.46. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $99.90 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02. The company has a market capitalization of $63.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

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

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

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

About Canadian National Railway

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.