Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$19.17.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ARE shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$17.00 to C$18.25 in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$17.50 to C$18.50 in a report on Friday, April 26th. Paradigm Capital upped their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$14.00 to C$17.80 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$13.00 to C$16.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$22.00 to C$23.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Martina Doyle sold 2,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$16.42, for a total transaction of C$37,191.30. In other Aecon Group news, Senior Officer Adam Robert Borgatti bought 4,231 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$13.07 per share, with a total value of C$55,299.17. Also, Senior Officer Martina Doyle sold 2,265 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$16.42, for a total transaction of C$37,191.30. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Aecon Group Stock Performance

TSE ARE opened at C$17.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.71, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Aecon Group has a 1 year low of C$8.42 and a 1 year high of C$17.40. The company has a market capitalization of C$1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 7.93, a P/E/G ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average of C$16.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$13.93.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C($0.14) by C$0.04. Aecon Group had a net margin of 3.77% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The company had revenue of C$846.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.03 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Aecon Group will post 0.9001593 earnings per share for the current year.

Aecon Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 22nd were given a dividend of $0.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 21st. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from Aecon Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Aecon Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.35%.

Aecon Group Company Profile

Aecon Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors.