Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 30.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,955 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,285 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Stantec were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Stantec by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 23,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after buying an additional 1,702 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stantec in the 4th quarter valued at $214,000. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in Stantec by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Stantec by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,151,060 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $269,279,000 after purchasing an additional 59,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Stantec by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 239,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,822 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STN has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stantec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, December 23rd. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Stantec Price Performance

STN opened at $80.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Stantec Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.49 and a 52-week high of $87.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.99. The company has a market cap of $9.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.46 and a beta of 1.04.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.03). Stantec had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 5.11%. The firm had revenue of $912.51 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $891.12 million. On average, analysts expect that Stantec Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.1548 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.36%.

Stantec 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.