Stifel Nicolaus Raises Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Price Target to $134.00

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) had its target price increased by Stifel Nicolaus from $121.00 to $134.00 in a research report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on CNI. Benchmark reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a hold rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised Canadian National Railway from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $147.52.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.7 %

CNI opened at $128.47 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $103.96 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $129.76 and a 200-day moving average of $121.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $82.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.46 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.56% and a net margin of 33.38%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.638 dividend. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 6th. This represents a $2.55 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is currently 39.59%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,395,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,813,534,000 after purchasing an additional 387,975 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,761,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907,938 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,189,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,412,032,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280,726 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.0% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 13,067,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,421,649,000 after purchasing an additional 625,500 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,651,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,471,733,000 after acquiring an additional 314,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian National Railway

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.