Stantec (NYSE:STN) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research note on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Stantec in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Stantec has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STN opened at $106.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.44. Stantec has a fifty-two week low of $73.18 and a fifty-two week high of $113.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a PE ratio of 38.73 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.96.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The business services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Stantec had a return on equity of 19.03% and a net margin of 5.62%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.64 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.1635 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. This represents a $0.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stantec in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 35.3% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 41,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,289,000 after purchasing an additional 10,930 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 5,878 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 132.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 52,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,082,000 after purchasing an additional 29,667 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.