Stantec Inc. (TSE:STN) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Stantec Inc. (TSE:STN) (NYSE:STN) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$120.15.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on STN. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Stantec from C$116.00 to C$119.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Stantec from C$121.00 to C$123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Stantec from C$110.00 to C$120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. CIBC lifted their price target on Stantec from C$116.00 to C$120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Stantec from C$120.00 to C$130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stantec

In other news, Director Steve Marvin Fleck sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$116.02, for a total value of C$232,040.00. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of Stantec stock opened at C$110.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.82, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is C$112.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$103.31. The stock has a market capitalization of C$12.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.87. Stantec has a one year low of C$77.00 and a one year high of C$118.39.

Stantec (TSE:STN) (NYSE:STN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported C$0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.86 by C($0.04). The business had revenue of C$1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.22 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 13.14% and a net margin of 6.54%. Analysts forecast that Stantec will post 4.2454998 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.21 dividend. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.19%.

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.