National Bank Financial Weighs in on Canadian National Railway’s Q3 2024 Earnings (NYSE:CNI)

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) – Analysts at National Bank Financial dropped their Q3 2024 earnings estimates for Canadian National Railway in a research report issued on Tuesday, July 23rd. National Bank Financial analyst C. Doerksen now anticipates that the transportation company will post earnings per share of $1.39 for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.51. National Bank Financial currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Canadian National Railway’s current full-year earnings is $5.80 per share. National Bank Financial also issued estimates for Canadian National Railway’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.68 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $6.42 EPS.

Canadian National Railway (NYSE:CNI) (TSE:CNR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.09). Canadian National Railway had a return on equity of 23.58% and a net margin of 32.00%. The firm had revenue of $4.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.31 earnings per share. Canadian National Railway’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Canadian National Railway from $127.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut shares of Canadian National Railway from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Canadian National Railway from $128.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Canadian National Railway in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Canadian National Railway from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $146.25 to $130.67 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.35.

Canadian National Railway Price Performance

Canadian National Railway stock opened at $115.45 on Thursday. Canadian National Railway has a 12-month low of $103.96 and a 12-month high of $134.02. The stock has a market cap of $73.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.41, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $121.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $125.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,395,401 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,813,534,000 after acquiring an additional 387,975 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 21,868,740 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,761,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,907,938 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 19,189,809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,412,032,000 after acquiring an additional 1,280,726 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 11,651,919 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,471,733,000 after acquiring an additional 314,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Canadian National Railway by 18.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,003,537 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,185,647,000 after acquiring an additional 1,379,976 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.74% of the company’s stock.

Canadian National Railway Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.614 dividend. This represents a $2.46 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Canadian National Railway’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.39%.

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.