Short Interest in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Declines By 10.5%

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 7,000,000 shares, a decrease of 10.5% from the March 15th total of 7,820,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,010,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. O Dell Group LLC purchased a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 766.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 234 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 241.1% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 324 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Canadian National Railway by 121.0% in the 3rd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 369 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Trading Down 1.2 %

CNI stock opened at $127.28 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $129.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Canadian National Railway has a 52-week low of $103.96 and a 52-week high of $134.02. The firm has a market cap of $81.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.88.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.46 by $0.02. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 33.38% and a return on equity of 23.56%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Canadian National Railway will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 7th were paid a $0.638 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $2.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNI has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. TD Securities downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Canadian National Railway from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.52.

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.