Canadian National Railway Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.61 (NYSE:CNI)

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, December 9th will be given a dividend of 0.6108 per share by the transportation company on Monday, December 30th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 9th.

Canadian National Railway has raised its dividend payment by an average of 21.4% per year over the last three years. Canadian National Railway has a payout ratio of 41.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Canadian National Railway to earn $6.25 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.51 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.2%.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock traded down $0.10 on Wednesday, reaching $112.14. 1,930,609 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,107,582. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $103.96 and a 1-year high of $134.02. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $116.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company has a market cap of $70.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.00% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup started coverage on Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $116.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.10.

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.