Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) Upgraded to “Outperform” by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has C$179.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$169.00.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on CNR. Stephens raised shares of Canadian National Railway to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from C$179.00 to C$173.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Desjardins cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from C$192.00 to C$181.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Canadian National Railway from C$185.00 to C$180.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Canadian National Railway from C$187.00 to C$180.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of C$175.14.

Canadian National Railway Trading Up 0.7 %

TSE:CNR opened at C$159.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$157.06 and a 200-day moving average price of C$165.10. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of C$143.13 and a 12 month high of C$181.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 107.62. The stock has a market cap of C$100.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.65.

Canadian National Railway (TSE:CNR) (NYSE:CNI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The company reported C$1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.93 by C($0.09). The firm had revenue of C$4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$4.40 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 27.41%. Equities analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 8.5979325 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 27th were issued a dividend of $0.845 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $3.38 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Canadian National Railway news, Director Josephine Ann Marie Depass Olsovsky acquired 2,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$115.29 per share, for a total transaction of C$300,906.90. In related news, Director Shauneen Elizabeth Bruder bought 543 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$157.53 per share, for a total transaction of C$85,539.88. Also, Director Josephine Ann Marie Depass Olsovsky purchased 2,610 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$115.29 per share, for a total transaction of C$300,906.90. Insiders have purchased a total of 4,383 shares of company stock worth $585,772 in the last quarter. 1.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.