Plenty of reasons to like CN

Article Excerpt

We made CP Rail (see box at right) our “Stock of the Year” for 2012 because we felt its earnings would jump if it cut costs and made better use of its trains. A U.S.-based activist investor agreed with us and brought in CN Rail’s former chief executive officer, Hunter Harrison, who helped make CN North America’s most efficient railroad. Some investors feel that a stronger CP will hurt CN. However, CN still has several competitive advantages, such as a larger rail network, better efficiency and exclusive access to the port in Prince Rupert, B.C., which is the closest North American port to Asia. Moreover, CN has a lower price-to-earnings ratio and higher dividend yield than CP. CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $102 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 424.1 million; Market cap: $43.3 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 4.3; Dividend yield: 1.7%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. The company’s 32,350-kilometre network stretches…