Stantec (NYSE:STN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

STN has been the subject of several other reports. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James upgraded Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Stantec currently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Price Performance

NYSE STN opened at $101.20 on Friday. Stantec has a one year low of $73.18 and a one year high of $101.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $86.56 and a 200 day moving average of $82.86. The company has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.00 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. The company had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.1612 per share. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Stantec’s payout ratio is currently 25.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Stantec

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 580,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,559,000 after purchasing an additional 39,671 shares during the period. Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 1,011.1% during the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 83,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 76,217 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 407,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,965,000 after purchasing an additional 45,900 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 263,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $20,699,000 after buying an additional 30,629 shares in the last quarter. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.