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

Shares of Stantec Inc. (TSE:STN) (NYSE:STN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$120.15.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on STN shares. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Stantec from C$125.00 to C$130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Stantec from C$121.00 to C$123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Stantec from C$120.00 to C$130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Stantec from C$118.00 to C$126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets downgraded Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stantec

In other Stantec news, Director Steve Marvin Fleck sold 2,000 shares of Stantec stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$116.02, for a total value of C$232,040.00. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Trading Down 0.8 %

TSE STN opened at C$113.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.82. Stantec has a 1-year low of C$75.59 and a 1-year high of C$118.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is C$111.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$101.09. The company has a market capitalization of C$12.97 billion, a PE ratio of 38.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.89.

Stantec (TSE:STN) (NYSE:STN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.86 by C($0.04). Stantec had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 6.54%. The firm had revenue of C$1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$1.22 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec will post 4.2467057 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be given a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. Stantec’s payout ratio is currently 28.19%.

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.