Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Stock Rating Upgraded by Royal Bank of Canada

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was upgraded by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on CNI. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $130.67 to $126.29 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup started coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. National Bank Financial raised Canadian National Railway from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Canadian National Railway from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $126.02.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

CNI opened at $115.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $72.95 billion, a PE ratio of 18.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $103.96 and a 1 year high of $134.02. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.73.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.31 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,395,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,813,534,000 after acquiring an additional 387,975 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,761,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,938 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.8% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 9,365,622 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,106,361,000 after acquiring an additional 674,536 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 18.1% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,003,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,185,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.2% during the second quarter. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd now owns 8,610,928 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,017,315,000 after acquiring an additional 99,716 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

About Canadian National Railway

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.