Veritas Upgrades Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) to “Strong-Buy”

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was upgraded by investment analysts at Veritas from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on CNI. National Bank Financial raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.18.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $110.83 on Wednesday. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $103.96 and a fifty-two week high of $134.02. The company has a market capitalization of $69.80 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $116.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.63.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.49% and a net margin of 31.65%. The business had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNI. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 5.2% in the third quarter. Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE now owns 31,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $3,648,000 after buying an additional 1,539 shares during the last quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farrow Financial Inc. now owns 18,440 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 11,610.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 178,114 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $20,866,000 after acquiring an additional 176,593 shares during the last quarter. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 14.6% in the third quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 139,200 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $16,318,000 after acquiring an additional 17,700 shares during the period. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 12.7% during the third quarter. Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,690 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.