Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The transportation company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.31, Zacks reports. Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 27.22% and a return on equity of 21.95%. The firm 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 firm earned $1.85 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .5% on a year-over-year basis.

Here are the key takeaways from Canadian National Railway’s conference call:

• Network efficiency gains drove operational improvement in Q1 — car velocity +6%, dwell -4%, train speed +6%, RTMs +3% and higher locomotive and T&E productivity, positioning CN to grow volumes without proportional cost increases.
• Free cash flow was ~CAD 900M (up ~CAD 275M YoY) and funded CAD 870M of share repurchases (6M shares), while leverage rose to ~2.7x, reflecting strong cash generation and capital returns to shareholders.
• Safety slipped in Q1 with accidents up year-over-year and roughly CAD 30M higher incident costs; management says targeted actions are underway and April showed early improvement.
• Management is maintaining directional guidance of flattish volumes with earnings slightly outpacing volumes, but flagged a CAD 0.07 Q1 drag from fuel and FX and higher fuel price volatility that could pressure Q2 operating ratio.
• Commercial intensity converted about CAD 100M of revenue in Q1 across grain, NGLs, potash and intermodal, and management cites a dynamic pipeline (~200 initiatives) with ~CAD 100M of near-term visibility for the next quarter.

Canadian National Railway Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of CNI traded down $0.19 on Friday, hitting $111.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,516,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,678,027. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $107.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.32. Canadian National Railway has a fifty-two week low of $90.74 and a fifty-two week high of $115.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.91.

Canadian National Railway Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 9th will be given a $0.915 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. This represents a $3.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Canadian National Railway’s payout ratio is currently 49.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on CNI shares. Vertical Research raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $117.00 to $122.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Canadian National Railway from $113.88 to $117.36 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Canadian National Railway currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.04.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Canadian National Railway

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CNI. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the 1st quarter worth approximately $311,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,514 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,122,000 after acquiring an additional 1,146 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. acquired a new position in Canadian National Railway during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $202,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,118 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Canadian National Railway by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,094 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Canadian National Railway

Here are the key news stories impacting Canadian National Railway this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Broker upgrades and higher targets from RBC and Citi increase upside expectations — RBC raised its target to $178 with an “outperform” rating, and Citigroup raised its target to $124 with a “buy” rating, signaling strong analyst conviction in CNI’s medium-term earnings power. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 results met earnings estimates, revenue grew year-over-year and the company raised its dividend — supports income and cash-flow narratives that investors favor for CNI. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Board continuity: CN confirmed election of the director slate at its May 1 annual meeting, removing near-term governance uncertainty. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor materials: The company’s Q1 results presentation and earnings call deck are available for deeper detail on volumes, segment trends and guidance drivers. Useful for modeling near-term revenue and margin assumptions. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risk: CN said it is reviewing Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern’s amended merger re-application to the Surface Transportation Board and will remain engaged — a combined UP–NS could reshape competitive dynamics and pricing power in key corridors, representing a downside risk for CN. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed analyst signals: Barclays raised its target slightly but kept an “equal weight” rating with a target still below the current price, highlighting that some analysts see limited near-term upside or higher risk relative to peers. Article Title Article Title

About Canadian National Railway

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.