Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 432 Shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,185 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 432 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Canadian National Railway were worth $1,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the fourth quarter worth $563,048,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,030,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,948 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,943,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter valued at about $159,907,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 4.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 790,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Loop Capital downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Securities upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE CNI opened at $97.39 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $101.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.64. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of $93.64 and a 12 month high of $132.27. 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 company has a market cap of $61.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, 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 for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. As a group, analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.6159 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. This represents a $2.46 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.53%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.66%.

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.