Shares of Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. (TSX: T.CP, Stock Forum) (NYSE: CP, Stock Forum) hit a new 52-week high Wednesday as investors reacted to a series announcements from the company, including a plan to cut 4,500 positions.
The stock was up 4.7% to $97.37 in late morning trading, leaving Canadian Pacific with a market cap of $16.8 billion, based on 173.1 million shares outstanding. Prior to Wednesday, the 52-week range was $94.44 and $63.35.
On Monday, CP said it's seeking potential buyers for a U.S. line that stretches about 1,000 kilometres across several states in the U.S. Midwest.
On Tuesday, the company followed that up by revealing plans to reduce the company’s workforce by 23% by 2016, or about 4,500 positions, primarily through attrition.
On Wednesday, Harrison outlined CP’s go-forward plan for change that will greatly improve service, increase the railway’s efficiency, lower cost and grow the business, CP said in a press release.
These are the latest strategic move for the Calgary-based company since a new board of directors installed Hunter Harrison as its chief executive officer in the summer.
Harrison is an American-born retired CEO of Canadian National Railway and is credited with turning the Montreal-based company into the most efficient major railway in North America.
Canadian Pacific announced from Minneapolis on Tuesday morning that it's exploring strategic options for a line that runs from Tracy in Minnesota west into South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
CP assumed operational control of the line when it acquired Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern railroad in 2008.
It's the second move this week that shows the diminished status of the U.S. acquisition, including CP's announcement Monday that it has deferred plans to extend one of its lines into a coal-producing area known as Powder River Basin. (With files from The Canadian Press).