The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Raymond James analyst Steve Hansen has boosted Canadian National Railway to "outperform" from "market perform." The Globe's David Leeder writes that Mr. Hansen has an unchanged $180 share target. Analysts on average target the shares at $164.08. Mr. Hansen says his upgrade comes "after a lengthy period on the sidelines (almost 17 months), with the worst of the freight recession now deemed behind us and the company's recent share price pullback providing an attractive entry point." Mr. Hansen says in a note: "We expect a sharply lower Canadian harvest to ultimately translate into lower year-over-year grain shipments for both CN and CP in 2H23/1H24. Importantly, we expect the bulk of this impact to emerge in 4Q23/1H24 as the current quarter (3Q23) is still enjoying tailwinds from last year's hefty crop and an early harvest this year. While growth in U.S. originations are expected to help mitigate this pressure, we still expect both CN and CP will post mid-single-digit declines in grain traffic (carload) through 4Q23, with the potential for this headwind to steepen into 1Q24 given the mild winter weather that facilitated outsized grain movements last year."