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Institutional Investor magazine recently named BNSF Railway Co. one of the nation's most shareholder-friendly companies.

The only railroad to make this year's list, BNSF ranked second among U.S. air freight and surface transportation firms.

The rankings are based on a survey of more than 640 equity analysts and portfolio managers. The magazine asked institutional investors to name the top four companies in nine categories that they believed offer maximum shareholder value based on the effectiveness of the firm's corporate governance and investor relations.

BNSF Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Matt Rose also landed on Institutional Investor's list of the best CEOs per industry sector. The magazine polled 900 analysts, portfolio managers and other investment professionals to determine the top three CEOs in each sector.

Institutional Investor has published an annual list of the most shareholder-friendly companies since 2005 and an annual top-CEO list since 2006.

Meanwhile, BNSF is attempting to be more shipper-friendly in the North Dakota region. The Class I recently reduced bulk agricultural product rates for containers originating in Minot and Fargo.

"In effect, the rates that steamship companies pay to BNSF for outbound loaded bulk agricultural products in containers from Minot and Fargo/Dilworth will be equalized to Minneapolis/St. Paul rates to various U.S. export ports," said Kevin Kaufman, BNSF group vice president-agricultural products, in a prepared statement.