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

Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STN. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, October 25th. They set a “sector outperform” rating for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stantec

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in Stantec in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Stantec by 802.8% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 975 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 867 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Stantec by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Stantec by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in Stantec in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:STN opened at $81.26 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.16. Stantec has a 12-month low of $74.98 and a 12-month high of $88.42. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a PE ratio of 36.93 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.05. Stantec had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 16.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is 26.36%.

About Stantec

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.