Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Grows Stock Holdings in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 14.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 144,146 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,600 shares during the quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $13,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at $591,904,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 2nd quarter valued at about $189,748,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 26.6% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 6,705,679 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $695,048,000 after buying an additional 1,408,978 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 20.1% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,296,828 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $655,768,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051,977 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Canadian National Railway by 31.9% during the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 4,220,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $440,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019,914 shares in the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $107.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $65.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $96.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52-week low of $90.74 and a 52-week high of $108.75.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. The firm had revenue of $3.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Canadian National Railway’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.915 dividend. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Vertical Research upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.91.

About Canadian National Railway

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.