Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Acquires 555 Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,553 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 555 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $563,048,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $789,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,948 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,943,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway during the third quarter valued at about $159,907,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 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 worth $2,175,935,000 after buying an additional 790,420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNI. Loop Capital downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. 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. Finally, TD Securities raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

NYSE CNI opened at $97.35 on Tuesday. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $93.64 and a one year high of $132.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $100.98 and a 200 day moving average of $106.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $61.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 EPS for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.6159 per share. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.53%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.66%.

Canadian National Railway 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.