Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires New Stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,176 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in Stantec by 632.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Stantec by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Natixis lifted its position in Stantec by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 1,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in Stantec by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Stantec during the 4th quarter worth about $205,000. 63.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on STN. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stantec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Stock Up 0.4%

Stantec stock opened at $104.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.97 billion, a PE ratio of 47.70 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.28 and its 200-day moving average is $84.52. Stantec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.18 and a fifty-two week high of $105.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 16.57%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1612 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Stantec’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Stantec 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.