Swiss National Bank Cuts Stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Swiss National Bank cut its stake in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 360,770 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 11,800 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Stantec were worth $29,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of STN. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Stantec by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 330,247 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,630,000 after purchasing an additional 3,297 shares in the last quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc increased its holdings in Stantec by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc now owns 58,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,697,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd raised its position in Stantec by 153.2% in the 4th quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd now owns 14,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 8,868 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new position in Stantec during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,055,000. Finally, Calamos Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Stantec by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,000 after acquiring an additional 6,086 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:STN opened at $84.88 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $82.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Stantec Inc. has a one year low of $56.49 and a one year high of $87.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58 and a beta of 1.05.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $891.12 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Stantec Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were paid a $0.1548 dividend. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is 26.36%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.