Canadian National Railway Company (NYSE:CNI) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

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

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Canadian National Railway stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $118.54. 1,492,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,085,524. The company has a market capitalization of $72.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $109.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.80. Canadian National Railway has a 1 year low of $90.74 and a 1 year high of $119.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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

Canadian National Railway Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.915 per share. This represents a $3.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 9th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.73%.

Institutional Trading of Canadian National Railway

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNI. High Point Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hollencrest Capital Management purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Costello Asset Management INC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Curio Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Canadian National Railway in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNI has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $160.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Canadian National Railway from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Canadian National Railway from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group cut Canadian National Railway from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.04.

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.