Efficiency gains give CN special appeal

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $74 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 792.7 million; Market cap: $58.7 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.6; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 32,200- kilometre network stretches across the country and through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. CN saw a big jump in the number of goods shipped after the 2008/09 recession. That’s the main reason why its revenue soared 46.2%, from $8.3 billion in 2010 to $12.1 billion in 2014. That figure probably rose to $13.4 billion in 2015. Earnings gained 56.9%, from $2.0 billion in 2010 to $3.1 billion in 2014. CN is an aggressive buyer of its own shares. As a result, its earnings per share soared 79.0%, from $2.10 to $3.76. Upgrades keep paying off CN’s close attention to efficiency is a big reason for the higher earnings. In the past few years, it has invested heavily…