CNR.TO WACC - Weighted Average Cost of Capital

The WACC of Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) is 7.0%.

The Cost of Equity of Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) is 7.90%.

The Cost of Debt of Canadian National Railway Co (CNR.TO) is 4.40%.

	Range	Selected
Cost of equity	6.80% - 9.00%	7.90%
Tax rate	23.50% - 24.10%	23.80%
Cost of debt	4.20% - 4.60%	4.40%
WACC	6.1% - 7.9%	7.0%

WACC

CNR.TO WACC calculation

Category	Low	High

Long-term bond rate	3.2%	3.7%
Equity market risk premium	5.1%	6.1%
Adjusted beta	0.72	0.79

Additional risk adjustments	0.0%	0.5%
Cost of equity	6.80%	9.00%

Tax rate	23.50%	24.10%
Debt/Equity ratio	0.24	0.24
Cost of debt	4.20%	4.60%

After-tax WACC	6.1%	7.9%


Selected WACC	7.0%

CNR.TO's CAPM model and how its cost of Equity is calculated

The Cost of Equity reflects the return a company needs to deliver to shareholders to justify the risk of investing in its shares. It’s computed using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), which blends the risk-free rate, the stock’s beta, and the market risk premium.

This method evaluates the stock’s risk compared to a safe investment and the market’s overall volatility.

Here’s how we figure out the cost of equity for CNR.TO:

cost_of_equity (7.90%) = risk_free_rate (3.45%) + equity_risk_premium (5.60%) * adjusted_beta (0.72) + risk_adjustments (0.25%)

We include the risk adjustments, which range from 0% to 1%, to keep our WACC conservatives, especially for companies traded in developing markets.