Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. Takes Position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network boosted its holdings in Stantec by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Stantec in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Canoe Financial LP boosted its holdings in Stantec by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 118,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $7,694,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Stantec in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Stantec by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after buying an additional 863 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stantec has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:STN opened at $80.97 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a PE ratio of 36.80 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s fifty day moving average is $82.84 and its 200 day moving average is $76.80. Stantec Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.49 and a 52 week high of $87.53. 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 (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued 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). The business had revenue of $912.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $891.12 million. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 5.11%. Research analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.1548 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.