OTTAWA: Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Friday. According to Zacks, “Shares of Canadian National Railway Company have underperformed the industry it belongs to over the last three months. The stock has gained 2.9%, well below its industry’s rally of 9%. Moreover, it has underperformed fellow Canadian railroad operator Canadian Pacific Railway whose shares have gained 10.4% over the last three months. Adding to its woes, Canadian National reported lower-than-expected earnings per share and revenues in the third quarter of 2017. High operating expenses are hurting the company. Deterioration in operating ratio is also a matter of concern. The company’s efforts to reward shareholders through dividend payments and share buybacks are, however, impressive.” A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on CNI. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial, Inc. downgraded Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Credit Suisse Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Friday, July 28th. Desjardins raised Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BidaskClub raised Canadian National Railway from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.86. Canadian National Railway (NYSE CNI) traded down 0.04% during trading on Friday, reaching $81.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,730,062 shares. Canadian National Railway has a 12 month low of $61.72 and a 12 month high of $84.48. The company has a market capitalization of $61.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.55 and its 200-day moving average is $79.25.
Canadian National Railway announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, October 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase 31,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the transportation company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 9.2% in the third quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 23,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,976,000 after buying an additional 2,015 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 67.7% in the third quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 474,599 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $49,025,000 after buying an additional 191,600 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Canadian National Railway in the third quarter worth about $13,170,000. Callahan Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 21.5% in the third quarter. Callahan Advisors LLC now owns 47,744 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,956,000 after buying an additional 8,457 shares during the period. Finally, Baskin Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Canadian National Railway by 16.4% in the third quarter. Baskin Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,672 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $799,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the period. 54.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
