Stantec (NYSE:STN) Upgraded by StockNews.com to “Strong-Buy” Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Friday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on STN. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Stantec currently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STN opened at $101.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $86.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. Stantec has a 52 week low of $73.18 and a 52 week high of $101.81.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. Analysts anticipate that Stantec will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1612 per share. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.61%.

Institutional Trading of Stantec

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Stantec by 73.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 13,107 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Stantec in the 4th quarter valued at about $531,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Stantec by 1,011.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 83,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 76,217 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Stantec by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Stantec in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,635,000. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Company Profile

Stantec Inc provides professional services in the areas of infrastructure and facilities to the public and private sectors in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It offers evaluation, planning, and designing infrastructure solutions; solutions for sustainable water resources, planning, management, and infrastructure; environmental services; integrated architecture, engineering, interior design, and planning solutions for buildings; and energy and resources solutions.