Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes Position in Canadian National Railway Company $CNI

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 158,799 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,975,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hollencrest Capital Management bought a new position in Canadian National Railway during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Costello Asset Management INC raised its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 330 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 603 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. 80.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Canadian National Railway Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Canadian National Railway stock opened at $104.98 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $64.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $103.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $98.55. Canadian National Railway Company has a 52-week low of $90.74 and a 52-week high of $113.08.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.43 billion. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.28% and a return on equity of 22.14%. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.82 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Canadian National Railway Company will post 5.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.915 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $105.00 to $103.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Canadian National Railway from $153.00 to $151.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Canadian National Railway from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group downgraded Canadian National Railway from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.91.

Canadian National Railway 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.