Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on STN shares. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James raised shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stantec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stantec

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STN. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stantec in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Stantec by 632.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Stantec by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 874 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stantec in the 1st quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Stantec in the 1st quarter valued at $97,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Stock Performance

Stantec stock opened at $101.94 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.49. The company has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.34 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. Stantec has a fifty-two week low of $73.18 and a fifty-two week high of $103.32.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 16.57%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1612 per share. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

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.