CN prepares for shifting demand

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $122 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 720.7 million; Market cap: $87.9 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 6.0; Dividend yield: 1.8%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway, stretching across the country, and passes through the U.S. Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. CN has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount for the intermodal (containers that travel by rail, ship and truck) business of the Alberta-based trucking firm H&R Transport Ltd. The purchase is part of CN’s strategy to cut its exposure to cyclical commodities, such as crude oil and lumber, by shipping more industrial products and consumer goods. CN Rail is a buy. buy…