The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Raises Stock Position in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,836,345 shares of the transportation company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,453 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.76% of Canadian National Railway worth $570,667,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 61.1% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 162,179 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $20,375,000 after buying an additional 61,498 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,602,728 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $201,351,000 after purchasing an additional 17,083 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $134,096,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $627,000. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at $816,000. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $146.25 to $130.67 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Canadian National Railway from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Canadian National Railway from $137.00 to $133.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stephens cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $135.24.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

CNI opened at $116.78 on Friday. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $103.96 and a twelve month high of $134.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 2.50 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 32.00%. The company had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.614 dividend. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is currently 39.08%.

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.