Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 2,295,778 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 104% from the previous session’s volume of 1,122,908 shares.The stock last traded at $108.45 and had previously closed at $109.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNI. Citigroup raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $126.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $116.00 price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Canadian National Railway from $130.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $125.86.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $69.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $111.98 and its 200 day moving average is $116.28.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 31.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.6108 per share. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 92,300 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,820,000 after purchasing an additional 21,100 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 3,962,972 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $464,002,000 after buying an additional 202,303 shares in the last quarter. Partners Group Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 16.3% during the 3rd quarter. Partners Group Holding AG now owns 406,066 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,571,000 after acquiring an additional 56,849 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,096,000. Finally, Sterling Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 17.2% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Management LLC now owns 36,279 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 5,329 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.