Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Increases Dividend to $0.62 Per Share

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.6159 per share by the transportation company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61.

Canadian National Railway has raised its dividend by an average of 10.9% annually over the last three years. Canadian National Railway has a dividend payout ratio of 37.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Canadian National Railway to earn $5.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.35 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.1%.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 0.6 %

Canadian National Railway stock traded down $0.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $104.58. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,311,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,330,649. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $98.96 and a one year high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $65.77 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $104.62 and a 200-day moving average of $111.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 23.62%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.12 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on CNI. Veritas raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Securities upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.