Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on CNI shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to an “outperformer” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $146.00 to $151.00 in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Vertical Research raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Canadian National Railway from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s 50-day moving average is $101.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.25.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.82 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.36%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CNI. High Point Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 124.0% during the 2nd quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 271 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. First Horizon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. 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.