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

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $125.26 and last traded at $125.6660, with a volume of 1332513 shares. The stock had previously closed at $124.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on CNI shares. National Bank Financial set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $124.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $110.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$182.00 to C$185.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.94.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.96.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.31. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 27.22%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.85 EPS. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th were given a $0.915 dividend. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. Lincluden Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 4.1% in the third quarter. Lincluden Management Ltd. now owns 434,344 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,717,000 after purchasing an additional 17,257 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the third quarter worth about $3,079,000. Scharf Investments LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,283,000. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the third quarter valued at $32,174,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,279,778 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $225,356,000 after acquiring an additional 216,963 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.