D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Has $847,000 Stock Position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 64.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 19,200 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Stantec were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 580,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $45,559,000 after purchasing an additional 39,671 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 407,626 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,965,000 after purchasing an additional 45,900 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 3,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 263,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,699,000 after buying an additional 30,629 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 13,107 shares during the last quarter. 63.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stantec Price Performance

Stantec stock opened at $101.94 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a PE ratio of 46.34 and a beta of 0.98. Stantec Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.18 and a 12 month high of $103.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.51.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. Analysts expect that Stantec Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a $0.1612 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.62%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on STN shares. TD Securities restated a “buy” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stantec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Company 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.