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

Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Stantec by 14.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 215,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,968,000 after buying an additional 27,060 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. acquired a new position in Stantec in the 2nd quarter valued at about $609,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Stantec by 175.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,266,214 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $105,850,000 after buying an additional 806,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new position in Stantec in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,164,000. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stantec Stock Performance

Shares of Stantec stock opened at $81.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The firm has a market cap of $9.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.16. Stantec has a fifty-two week low of $74.98 and a fifty-two week high of $88.42.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The business services provider reported $0.95 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Stantec will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Stantec’s payout ratio is currently 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.