Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Short Interest Up 129.3% in May

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,086,732 shares, an increase of 129.3% from the April 30th total of 2,217,974 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,134,369 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,646,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,437,679,000 after purchasing an additional 346,670 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 49.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 15,745,744 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,557,309,000 after purchasing an additional 5,210,403 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 14,201,675 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,338,948,000 after purchasing an additional 42,907 shares in the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 1.1% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 13,894,922 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,310,600,000 after acquiring an additional 157,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 2.0% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 9,077,518 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $934,488,000 after acquiring an additional 173,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 1.3%

CNI traded up $1.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,341,838 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,084,335. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $109.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $72.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.96. Canadian National Railway has a one year low of $90.74 and a one year high of $120.01.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The transportation company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31. Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 21.90% and a net margin of 27.22%.The business had revenue of $3.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.15 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.915 per share. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.55%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Canadian National Railway from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore reduced their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.04.

Canadian National Railway Company Profile

Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE: CNI) is a Class I freight railway that operates an integrated rail network across Canada and the United States. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, CN provides long-haul freight transportation and related logistics services that connect major ports, industrial centers and inland markets throughout North America. Its transcontinental system enables cross-border movement of goods and supports supply chains that span coast-to-coast in Canada and into the central and eastern United States.

CN’s core business is the railborne transportation of a broad mix of commodities, including intermodal container traffic, forest and paper products, grain and other agricultural products, metallurgical and industrial products, petroleum and chemical products, coal and automotive shipments.