Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $122.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $129.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Benchmark reiterated a hold rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Canadian National Railway from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $146.25 to $130.67 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $129.51.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Shares of CNI opened at $113.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $103.96 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.54 and a 200 day moving average of $121.18.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.40 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.00% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Canadian National Railway will post 5.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a dividend of $0.614 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.16%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.08%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 92.4% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 4,505,860 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $593,911,000 after purchasing an additional 2,163,820 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,761,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,938 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 18.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,003,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,185,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,976 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4,614.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,336,027 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $157,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,307,689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the second quarter valued at about $134,096,000. 80.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.