Payout Boost: CN hikes its dividend

Article Excerpt

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY CO. $91 (Toronto symbol CNR; Conservative Growth Dividend Payer Portfolio, Manufacturing & Industry sector; Shares outstanding: 764.0 million; Market cap: $69.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.8%; Dividend Sustainability Rating: Highest; www.cn.ca) operates Canada’s largest railway. Its 32,200-kilometre network stretches across the country, and reaches the U.S. Midwest and Gulf Coast. Starting with the March 2017 payment, CN raises its quarterly dividend by 10.0%, to $0.4125 a share from $0.375. The new annual rate of $1.65 yields 1.8%. The company has now increased its dividend each year since it became a public company in 1995. CN’s earnings will likely improve to $4.82 a share in 2017 from $4.59 in 2016. The stock trades at 18.9 times this year’s forecast. That’s a high p/e for a cyclical railway stock, but still reasonable in light of CN’s industry-leading efficiency. CN Rail is a buy. buy…