Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.62

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, January 31st,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.6159 per share by the transportation company on Monday, March 31st. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61.

Canadian National Railway has increased its dividend by an average of 10.9% per year over the last three years. Canadian National Railway has a dividend payout ratio of 37.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Canadian National Railway to earn $5.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.35 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.1%.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:CNI opened at $104.58 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $98.96 and a 1 year high of $134.02. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $104.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.96. The company has a market cap of $65.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 23.62%. Sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CNI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Canadian National Railway from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Veritas upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

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.