Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Raised to Buy at Stifel Nicolaus

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $120.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $132.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.18% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on CNI. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Securities upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $101.54 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $98.96 and a 12-month high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $63.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The transportation company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 31.65% and a return on equity of 23.62%. The firm had revenue of $4.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.26 earnings per share. Canadian National Railway’s revenue was up 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,175,935,000 after buying an additional 790,420 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,365,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,106,361,000 after buying an additional 674,536 shares during the last quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 8,610,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,017,315,000 after buying an additional 99,716 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,030,000 after buying an additional 2,137,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 5,482,524 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $642,828,000 after buying an additional 39,063 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

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.