Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Short Interest Up 54.2% in July

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,651,995 shares, an increase of 54.2% from the July 15th total of 3,015,932 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,822,588 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Canadian National Railway by 378.4% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 354 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the first quarter valued at $37,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Shares of CNI opened at $127.18 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.96 billion, a PE ratio of 22.62, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.95. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $90.74 and a 1 year high of $131.55.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.11. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.22% and a net margin of 26.92%.The business had revenue of $3.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.87 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.915 per share. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is 45.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CNI shares. Evercore upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $124.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Canadian National Railway from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective (up from $138.00) on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Stephens raised Canadian National Railway to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.40.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

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.