Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,651,995 shares, a growth of 54.2% from the July 15th total of 3,015,932 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,822,588 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 10.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at $570,161,000. Clean Energy Transition LLP bought a new position in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth about $47,268,000. Act Two Investors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 35.9% during the 4th quarter. Act Two Investors LLC now owns 146,385 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $14,470,000 after acquiring an additional 38,688 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,646,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,437,679,000 after purchasing an additional 346,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $126.67 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $123.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.08. Canadian National Railway has a 1-year low of $90.74 and a 1-year high of $131.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 22.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Canadian National Railway from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Evercore raised shares of Canadian National Railway from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $124.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Citizens Jmp initiated coverage on Canadian National Railway in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $124.00 target price on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.40.

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.