How to buy Canadian National Railway (CNR) stocks

Canadian National Railway is a railroads business based in Canada. Canadian National Railway shares (CNR) are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and all prices are listed in Canadian Dollars.

Its last market close was C$145.34 – a decrease of 1.72% over the previous week. Canadian National Railway employs 25,428 staff and has a trailing 12-month revenue of around C$17.2 billion.

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Canadian National Railway stock price (Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX): CNR)

Use our graph to track the performance of CNR stocks over time.

Canadian National Railway stocks at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2024-12-18.

Latest market close	C$145.34
52-week range	C$146.23 - C$178.49
50-day moving average more info button	C$153.80
200-day moving average more info button	C$163.03
Wall St. target price	C$172.90
PE ratio more info button	17.3254
Dividend yield more info button	C$3.325 (2.29%)
Earnings per share (TTM) more info button	C$8.45

Is it a good time to buy Canadian National Railway stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

This chart is not advice or a guarantee of success. Rather, it gauges the real-time recommendations of three popular technical indicators: moving averages, oscillators and pivots. Finder is not responsible for how your stock performs.

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Canadian National Railway price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the close of C$144.87 from 2024-12-19

1 week (2024-12-13)	-2.04%
1 month (2024-11-22)	-6.80%
3 months (2024-09-20)	-8.81%
6 months (2024-06-21)	-9.52%

1 year (2023-12-22)	-12.56%
2 years (2022-12-22)	-7.53%
3 years (2021-12-22)	146.5909
5 years (2019-12-20)	33.31%

Is Canadian National Railway stock undervalued or overvalued?

Valuing Canadian National Railway stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Canadian National Railway's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Canadian National Railway's P/E ratio

Canadian National Railway's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 17x. In other words, Canadian National Railway shares trade at around 17x recent earnings.

Canadian National Railway's PEG ratio

Canadian National Railway's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 3.3037. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the stocks offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the stocks offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Canadian National Railway's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the stock prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Canadian National Railway's EBITDA

Canadian National Railway's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is C$8.8 billion.

The EBITDA is a measure of a Canadian National Railway's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Canadian National Railway financials

Revenue TTM	C$17.2 billion
Operating margin TTM	39.64%
Gross profit TTM	C$9.6 billion
Return on assets TTM	8.18%
Return on equity TTM	27.55%
Profit margin	31.66%
Book value	C$30.95
Market Capitalization more info button	C$92.1 billion
EBITDA more info button	C$8.8 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Canadian National Railway's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Canadian National Railway.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Canadian National Railway's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 21.77

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Canadian National Railway's overall score of 21.77 (as at 12/31/2018) is excellent – landing it in it in the 20th percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Canadian National Railway is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Canadian National Railway's environmental score

Environmental score: 10.37/100

Canadian National Railway's environmental score of 10.37 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Canadian National Railway is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Canadian National Railway's social score

Social score: 14.63/100

Canadian National Railway's social score of 14.63 puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Canadian National Railway is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Canadian National Railway's governance score

Governance score: 7.77/100

Canadian National Railway's governance score puts it squarely in the 8th percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Canadian National Railway is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Canadian National Railway's controversy score

Controversy score: 2/5

ESG scores also evaluate any incidences of controversy that a company has been involved in. Canadian National Railway scored a 2 out of 5 for controversy – the second-highest score possible, reflecting that Canadian National Railway has, for the most part, managed to keep its nose clean.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Canadian National Railway Co was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	21.77
Total ESG percentile	19.96
Environmental score	10.37
Environmental score percentile	8
Social score	14.63
Social score percentile	8
Governance score	7.77
Governance score percentile	8
Level of controversy	2

Canadian National Railway stock dividends

Dividend payout ratio: 46.3% of net profits

Recently Canadian National Railway has paid out, on average, around 0% of net profits as dividends. That has enabled analysts to estimate a "forward annual dividend yield" of 0% of the current stock value. This means that over a year, based on recent payouts (which are sadly no guarantee of future payouts), Canadian National Railway shareholders could enjoy a 0% return on their shares, in the form of dividend payments. In Canadian National Railway's case, that would currently equate to about C$3.325 per share.

While Canadian National Railway's payout ratio might seem fairly standard, it's worth remembering that Canadian National Railway may be investing much of the rest of its net profits in future growth.

Canadian National Railway's most recent dividend payout was on 29 December 2024. The latest dividend was paid out to all shareholders who bought their stocks by 8 December 2024 (the "ex-dividend date").

Have Canadian National Railway's stocks ever split?

Canadian National Railway's stocks were split on a 2:1 basis on 1 December 2013 . So if you had owned 1 share the day before before the split, the next day you'd have owned 2 shares. This wouldn't directly have changed the overall worth of your Canadian National Railway stocks – just the quantity. However, indirectly, the new 50% lower stock price could have impacted the market appetite for Canadian National Railway stocks, which in turn could have impacted Canadian National Railway's stock price.

Canadian National Railway stock price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Canadian National Railway's stocks have ranged in value from as little as C$146.23 up to C$178.4909. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta."

Beta is a measure of a stocks volatility in relation to the market. The market (TO average) beta is 1, while Canadian National Railway's is 0.648. This would suggest that Canadian National Railway's stocks are less volatile than average (for this exchange).

Canadian National Railway overview

Canadian National Railway Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the rail, intermodal, trucking, and marine transportation and logistics business in Canada and the United States. The company provides rail services, which include equipment, custom brokerage services, transloading and distribution, business development and real estate, and private car storage services; and intermodal services, such as temperature controlled cargo, port partnerships, and logistics parks. It offers trucking services, such as door-to-door services, import and export dray, interline services, and specialized services, comprising flatbed trucks, on-deck mobile transport trays, expedited cargo, and permit/overweight services; and supply chain services. It serves automotive, coal, fertilizers, temperature controlled cargo, forest products, dimensional, grain, metal and minerals, petroleum and chemicals, consumer goods, and third party logistics applications. The company operates a rail network of approximately 20,000 route-miles of track and shipping spanning. Canadian National Railway Company was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada..

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Frequently asked questions

What percentage of Canadian National Railway is owned by insiders or institutions?
Currently 2.64% of Canadian National Railway stocks are held by insiders and 74.972% by institutions. How many people work for Canadian National Railway?
Latest data suggests 25,428 work at Canadian National Railway. When does the fiscal year end for Canadian National Railway?
Canadian National Railway's fiscal year ends in December. Where is Canadian National Railway based?
Canadian National Railway's address is: 935 de La Gauchetiere Street West, Montreal, QC, Canada, H3B 2M9 What is Canadian National Railway's ISIN number?
Canadian National Railway's international securities identification number is: CA1363751027

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