Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $112.51 and last traded at $112.1370, with a volume of 235333 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $112.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Barclays dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group lowered Canadian National Railway from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $101.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.60. 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 $69.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.90.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.915 per share. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC grew its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 28.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Point Capital Management ULC now owns 124,426 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,730,000 after buying an additional 27,857 shares in the last quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,448,000. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Canadian National Railway by 23.3% during the third quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 83,095 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $7,834,000 after purchasing an additional 15,715 shares in the last quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 9.8% during the second quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 802,257 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $83,646,000 after purchasing an additional 71,364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 742,230 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $70,038,000 after purchasing an additional 10,880 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.