Their activist attention benefits you

Article Excerpt

While activist investors have a spotty record of success, it’s still worth keeping an eye on them given their focus on finding hidden value. Here are two companies now being targeted by activists. That should benefit all investors. Still, we see just one of the picks as right for your new buying. CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $148 is a buy. The company (Toronto symbol CNR, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 709.0 million; Market cap: $104.9 billion; Dividend yield: 1.7%; Takeover Target Rating: Lowest; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 32,200-kilometre network stretches across the country. It also travels down through the U.S. Midwest, connecting Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board has rejected the company’s plan to set up an independent voting trust as part of its acquisition of U.S. railway Kansas City Southern (New York symbol KSU). It operates a rail network of roughly 11,400 kilometres extending from the U.S. Midwest and Southeast into Mexico. The…