National Bank Financial Predicts CNI Q1 Earnings

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Equities researchers at National Bank Financial upped their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, April 2nd. National Bank Financial analyst C. Doerksen now anticipates that the transportation company will post earnings of $1.22 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.21. The consensus estimate for Canadian National Railway’s current full-year earnings is $5.52 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s Q3 2025 earnings at $1.41 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.96 EPS.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 22.48% and a net margin of 26.09%.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on CNI. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $125.00 to $123.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $120.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. TD Securities raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $115.00 to $113.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.36.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

NYSE:CNI opened at $98.24 on Friday. 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 capitalization of $61.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.11. Canadian National Railway has a twelve month low of $93.64 and a twelve month high of $132.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CNI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter worth $563,048,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake 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 worth $789,030,000 after acquiring an additional 2,137,948 shares in the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at about $216,943,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 27,757,038 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,817,616,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934,622 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Canadian National Railway by 33.6% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,489,874 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $557,278,000 after buying an additional 1,380,554 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.6159 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.66%.

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.