JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Sells 128,392 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd lessened its position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 2.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,316,836 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 128,392 shares during the period. Stantec comprises about 2.7% of JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd owned 4.66% of Stantec worth $445,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of STN. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth about $109,514,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Stantec by 86.0% during the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 913,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $75,897,000 after buying an additional 422,538 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth about $24,553,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Stantec by 64.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 528,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,345,000 after buying an additional 206,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Stantec by 166.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 284,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,929,000 after buying an additional 177,882 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Raymond James cut shares of Stantec from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Stantec Stock Performance

NYSE STN opened at $79.02 on Thursday. Stantec Inc. has a 52-week low of $59.55 and a 52-week high of $88.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $82.82 and a 200-day moving average of $82.52. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 34.51 and a beta of 1.02.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. Stantec had a net margin of 4.96% and a return on equity of 16.22%. The business had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 27th will be given a $0.152 dividend. This represents a $0.61 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 27th. Stantec’s payout ratio is presently 27.07%.

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.