Dividend.com: Burlington Northern Off Track

01/12/09 - 03:07 PM EST

Tom Reese and Paul Rubillo

Burlington Northern Earnings May Derail

Burlington Northern Sante Fe (BNI Quote) shares are down nearly 6% today after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to underweight from equal-weight.

The analyst believes the railroad operator will not escape the drop in traffic for the industry, which is expected to fall 7.5% to 9% in the fourth quarter.

Much of the company's earnings success comes as a result of commodity strength. In the last quarter, agricultural products revenue rose 33%, while coal revenue rose 23%. The company does have a famous investor on board with Warren Buffett, reportedly holding a little over 70 million shares of Burlington Northern, or 20.47% of all the shares outstanding.

We had removed shares of Burlington Northern from our "Recommended" list back on Aug. 11, when shares were trading at $101.43. The company now has a dividend yield of 2.15%, based on last night's closing stock price of $74.58.

The stock does have technical support in the $54 area. If that fails to hold, we could see the $36 area as potentially the next stop below. On the flipside, if the shares can firm up and strengthen, the $81 to $85 area is the first level of overhead resistance, with $91 coming after that.

Burlington Northern Sante Fe Corporation is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Bank of America to Cut Dividend Again?

According to a Citigroup(C Quote) analyst report from earlier today, the firm believes Bank of America(BAC Quote) may need to cut its dividend again as it reports potential fourth-quarter losses.

< Previous
1 2 3
Your Recent Quotes: Quote Up0 | Quote Down0
 
Dow S&P 500 NASDAQ
Oil*
65.43
8,280.74
896.42
1,796.52
10 Yr
3.50%
223.32
26.91
49.20
-2.63%
-2.91%
-2.67%
Data delayed 20 min
Get Jim Cramer's Free Newsletter

The Daily Booyah!
Get your daily dose of Cramer in your inbox.
Submit
We respect your privacy.

Premium Stock Ideas
Access Action Alerts Plus to find out Cramer's latest picks now!

Brokerage Partners