Fuel costs offset lower freight volumes

Article Excerpt

The Alberta wildfires and low commodity prices have hurt freight volumes at CN and CP. However, both railways continue to do a good job controlling their costs. As well, each has an attractive p/e ratio—price to earnings per share. CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $77 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 777.2 million; Market cap: $59.8 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.8; Dividend yield: 1.9%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its network stretches across the country and through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. Low prices for crude oil, coal, iron ore and other minerals have prompted commodity producers to slow their production and shipments. As a result, CN’s overall freight volumes fell 7.2% in the first quarter of 2016. In response, the company now plans to spend $2.75 billion on new trains and other upgrades in 2016. That’s down from an earlier forecast of $2.9 billion. It may also cancel…