Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $109.90 and last traded at $108.4330, with a volume of 96096 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and raised their price target for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 0.5%

The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.07 and a 200-day moving average of $96.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $66.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.94.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.14% and a net margin of 27.28%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.915 per share. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. High Point Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 124.0% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the third quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI) is a Class I freight railway that operates an integrated rail network across Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, CN provides long-haul freight transportation and related logistics services that connect major ports, industrial centers and inland markets throughout North America. Its transcontinental system enables cross-border movement of goods and supports supply chains that span coast-to-coast in Canada and into the central and eastern United States.

CN’s core business is the railborne transportation of a broad mix of commodities, including intermodal container traffic, forest and paper products, grain and other agricultural products, metallurgical and industrial products, petroleum and chemical products, coal and automotive shipments.