Topic: Dividend Stocks

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $96 – Toronto symbol CNR

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $96 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 428.4 million; Market cap: $41.1 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) earned $2.5 billion in 2012. That’s up 11.9% from $2.2 billion in 2011. The company spent $1.4 billion on share buybacks during the year. Because of fewer shares outstanding, earnings per share rose 15.9%, to $5.61 from $4.84.

Revenue rose 9.9%, to $9.9 billion from $9.0 billion. The company continues to benefit from rising trade between North America and Asia. CN also raised its freight rates and fuel surcharges.

CN’s operating costs rose 9% in 2012, mainly due to higher labour and fuel expenses. Even so, CN’s operating ratio improved to 62.9% from 63.5%. (Operating ratio is calculated by dividing a company’s regular operating costs by its revenue. The lower the ratio, the better.)

The company’s earnings will probably rise just under 10% in 2013, to $6.17 a share. The stock trades at an attractive 15.6 times that estimate. As well, CN recently raised its quarterly dividend by 14.7%, to $0.43 a share from $0.375. The new annual rate of $1.72 yields 1.8%.

CN Rail is a buy.

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