Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $111.47 and last traded at $110.6060, with a volume of 88810 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $110.46.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and increased their price target for the company from $146.00 to $151.00 in a report on Friday, November 28th. Vertical Research upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research raised Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Stephens dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 0.2%

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $100.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $67.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.915 per share. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the 1st quarter worth $311,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 11.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,122,000 after purchasing an additional 1,146 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at about $202,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 5.3% in the second quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,374 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the second quarter valued at approximately $218,000. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.