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

Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) have received a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the four research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation.

A number of equities analysts recently commented 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. Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday.

Stantec Trading Up 0.7 %

Stantec stock opened at $85.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $78.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.02. Stantec has a 52 week low of $73.18 and a 52 week high of $90.24. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76 and a beta of 1.01.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.1574 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Stantec by 166.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 22,342,818 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,751,093,000 after acquiring an additional 13,958,790 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Stantec by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,575,078 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,951,000 after acquiring an additional 74,976 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in Stantec by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,496,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $273,970,000 after acquiring an additional 302,979 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Stantec by 19.3% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,344,994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $262,791,000 after acquiring an additional 542,305 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Stantec by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,008,962 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $236,055,000 after acquiring an additional 261,705 shares during the period. 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.