Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Has $1.23 Billion Stake in Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its holdings in shares of Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,097,715 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 1,767,989 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 1.93% of Canadian National Railway worth $1,228,039,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Canadian National Railway in the fourth quarter valued at about $563,048,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its stake in Canadian National Railway by 46.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 6,737,322 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $789,030,000 after buying an additional 2,137,948 shares during the last quarter. Canoe Financial LP bought a new position in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $216,943,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Canadian National Railway during the third quarter worth approximately $159,907,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in Canadian National Railway by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,814,469 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $488,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,102,977 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNI. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $174.00 to $171.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $121.00 to $112.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Canadian National Railway from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Canadian National Railway presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.02.

Canadian National Railway Stock Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $98.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $62.03 billion, a PE ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.91. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $93.64 and a 12-month high of $132.27. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.21.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The transportation company reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.39 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a net margin of 26.09% and a return on equity of 22.48%. As a group, analysts expect that Canadian National Railway will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Canadian National Railway Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.6159 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.50%. This is a boost from Canadian National Railway’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.66%.

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.