Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.63

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 23rd, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be given a dividend of 0.625 per share by the transportation company on Friday, June 28th. This represents a $2.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th.

Canadian National Railway has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.3% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 1 consecutive years. Canadian National Railway has a payout ratio of 37.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Canadian National Railway to earn $6.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.49 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 37.6%.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $122.80 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $129.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.20. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $103.96 and a 12-month high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $78.43 billion, a PE ratio of 19.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.17% and a net margin of 32.81%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNI. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities lowered Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, CIBC lowered Canadian National Railway from a “sector outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.86.

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.