Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) Reaches New 12-Month High at $21.04

Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$21.04 and last traded at C$20.95, with a volume of 18182 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$20.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ARE shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Aecon Group from C$25.00 to C$30.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. TD Securities reduced their target price on Aecon Group from C$17.00 to C$16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. National Bankshares upgraded shares of Aecon Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$17.00 to C$20.50 in a report on Monday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Aecon Group from C$17.50 to C$16.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, National Bank Financial upgraded Aecon Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, July 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$21.07.

Aecon Group Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.86, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$17.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$16.99. The stock has a market cap of C$1.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -77.48, a P/E/G ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.12.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C($1.99) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C($2.53) by C$0.54. The company had revenue of C$853.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.01 billion. Aecon Group had a return on equity of 1.40% and a net margin of 0.32%. On average, research analysts predict that Aecon Group Inc. will post 1.3797814 EPS for the current year.

Aecon Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Aecon Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -281.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Senior Officer Timothy John Murphy bought 4,244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$17.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$74,969.84. In other Aecon Group news, Director Scott Stewart bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$16.54 per share, with a total value of C$165,380.00. Also, Senior Officer Timothy John Murphy bought 4,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$17.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$74,969.84. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 16,549 shares of company stock worth $274,762. 0.82% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Aecon Group

Aecon Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors.