Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Stantec in a research report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stantec

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in Stantec by 121.3% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,802,689 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $225,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,475 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 2.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,776,167 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $142,817,000 after purchasing an additional 48,009 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in Stantec by 54.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,453,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $116,897,000 after buying an additional 513,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Stantec by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 523,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,781,000 after buying an additional 46,267 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Stantec by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 378,119 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,405,000 after buying an additional 251,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Price Performance

NYSE:STN opened at $77.46 on Friday. Stantec has a one year low of $74.98 and a one year high of $88.42. The stock has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.94.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $0.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.05. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is 26.36%.

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.