Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys Shares of 276,052 Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 276,052 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,022,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 43.3% in the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 15,552 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,822,000 after purchasing an additional 4,698 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 29.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $10,820,000 after purchasing an additional 21,100 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 363.6% in the third quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 153,880 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,012,000 after purchasing an additional 120,687 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 5.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $464,002,000 after purchasing an additional 202,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Partners Group Holding AG boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 16.3% in the third quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 406,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,571,000 after buying an additional 56,849 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on CNI shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI stock opened at $97.70 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.98. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $93.64 and a one year high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $61.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.6159 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.85%.

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.