Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sets New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $98.32 and last traded at $98.28, with a volume of 935201 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.36.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on CNI shares. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Canadian National Railway from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $102.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.94. The firm has a market cap of $61.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.6159 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.51%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.66%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $563,048,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,030,000 after buying an additional 2,137,948 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at $216,943,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,757,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,817,616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,934,622 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 33.6% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,489,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $557,278,000 after acquiring an additional 1,380,554 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.