Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Upgraded at 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 report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lowered Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.86.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $101.17 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $63.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.54. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $99.90 and a 12-month high of $134.02.

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

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after buying an additional 21,100 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 82.3% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 13,873 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 6,261 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 115.2% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 4,382 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 2,346 shares during the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.0% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,218 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $4,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,903 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Resource Group lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 8,391 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $983,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.