Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$88.71.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SJ. Desjardins reduced their target price on shares of Stella-Jones from C$94.00 to C$92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Stella-Jones from C$91.00 to C$94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Stella-Jones from C$89.00 to C$86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 1st. TD Securities cut their price target on Stella-Jones from C$96.00 to C$94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, National Bankshares increased their price target on Stella-Jones from C$87.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stella-Jones

In other Stella-Jones news, Director Simon Pelletier acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$73.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$146,290.00. In related news, Director Simon Pelletier acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$73.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$146,290.00. Also, Director Kevin Patrick Comerford bought 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$53.39 per share, with a total value of C$69,407.00. Over the last three months, insiders bought 3,800 shares of company stock worth $251,922. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Stella-Jones Stock Up 1.8 %

Stella-Jones stock opened at C$81.78 on Friday. Stella-Jones has a twelve month low of C$52.29 and a twelve month high of C$85.77. The stock has a market cap of C$4.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$78.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$77.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 5.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.46.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.90 by C$0.08. Stella-Jones had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business had revenue of C$688.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$722.50 million. As a group, analysts expect that Stella-Jones will post 5.7146953 EPS for the current year.

Stella-Jones Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This is a boost from Stella-Jones’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Stella-Jones’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.93%.

Stella-Jones Company Profile

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells pressure-treated wood products in Canada and the United States. It operates through two segments, Pressure-Treated Wood; and Logs and Lumber. The company offers railway ties and timbers for short line and commercial railroad operators; and wood utility poles for electrical utilities and telecommunication companies.