StockNews.com Upgrades Stantec (NYSE:STN) to “Strong-Buy”

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on STN. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James upgraded Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:STN opened at $101.20 on Friday. Stantec has a 12-month low of $73.18 and a 12-month high of $101.81. The company has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a PE ratio of 46.00 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $86.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.79 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. As a group, analysts forecast that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Stantec

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STN. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Stantec by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 13,107 shares in the last quarter. Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new stake in Stantec in the 4th quarter valued at about $531,000. Canoe Financial LP raised its position in Stantec by 1,011.1% in the 4th quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 83,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,567,000 after purchasing an additional 76,217 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Stantec by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Stantec in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,635,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

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.