CN Rail and CP Kansas City Price Targets Raised at Raymond James
Raymond James raised its price target on Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO, CNI) to $170 from $162, and on Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CP.TO, CP) to $125 from $120 on Thursday.Analyst Steve Hansen maintained an Outperform rating on both Canadian railways."Canadian rail traffic is off to a better-than-expected start in 2026," Hansen said in a note to clients. "While January struggled (acute weather), traffic accelerated through February/ March driven by sustained tailwinds in Grain, Intermodal, and PetChem.""Both Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) outperformed our expectations," the analyst said."After an underwhelming FY26 volume guide ('flattish'), CN stood out, in particular, outperforming not only Street expectations, but also its closest peer for a 2nd consecutive quarter. Share price performance followed," Hansen said."Looking forward, we remain cautiously optimistic on both carriers. While the threat of further US trade action still lingers, we see a realistic path to LSD to MSD traffic growth underpinned by: 1) sustained bulk tailwinds (grain, potash); 2) incremental self-help traction; and 3) a rapidly improving economic/freight outlook south of the border. At the same time, emerging inflections in key categories (PetChem, Forestry, FracSand) are expected to influence the growth and yield mix."
