Zacks Research Has Pessimistic Outlook of CNI Q1 Earnings

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Research analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for Canadian National Railway in a report released on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the transportation company will post earnings of $1.30 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.37. Zacks Research has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Canadian National Railway’s current full-year earnings is $5.52 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.40 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.43 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $5.67 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $6.91 EPS.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. 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. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $107.55 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.94 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.94. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $90.74 and a one year high of $108.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $99.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.56.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Canadian National Railway’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 21,455 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter valued at $424,000. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,378 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 710 shares during the last quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC grew its position in Canadian National Railway by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $507,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Canadian National Railway by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,549 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

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

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.