Stantec (TSE:STN) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Stantec Inc. (TSE:STN) (NYSE:STN)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$125.79 and last traded at C$125.29, with a volume of 142601 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$119.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on STN. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Stantec from C$120.00 to C$130.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on shares of Stantec from C$125.00 to C$135.00 in a report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Stantec from C$135.00 to C$138.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, CIBC lifted their target price on Stantec from C$121.50 to C$134.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$130.50.

Stantec Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 85.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$111.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$113.27. The stock has a market cap of C$14.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.82.

Stantec Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Stantec’s payout ratio is 28.03%.

Insider Activity at Stantec

In related news, Director Vito Culmone purchased 3,000 shares of Stantec stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$112.03 per share, with a total value of C$336,099.00. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Stantec

Stantec Inc is a sustainable engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting company. The company is geographically diversified in three regional operating units namely Canada, the United States and Global, offering similar services across all regions. The company offers services in various sectors across the project life cycle through five business operating units infrastructure, water, buildings, environmental services, and energy and resources.