Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, a growth of 33.1% from the January 31st total of 1,600,000 shares. Currently, 0.4% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,340,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNI shares. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $119.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.19.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE CNI traded down $0.69 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $97.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,697,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,412,773. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.83. Canadian National Railway has a 52 week low of $96.28 and a 52 week high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $61.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 26.09%. Equities research analysts predict that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.6159 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,757,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,817,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934,622 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,986,678 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,334,251,000 after purchasing an additional 101,228 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 4.4% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,562,189 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,175,935,000 after purchasing an additional 790,420 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,822,063 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,199,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,341,133 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,768,500 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,194,443,000 after purchasing an additional 309,210 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.