North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) Cut to “Hold” at TD Securities

TD Securities downgraded shares of North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group cut shares of North American Construction Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of North American Construction Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of North American Construction Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold”.

North American Construction Group Trading Down 4.5%

North American Construction Group stock opened at $12.32 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $16.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $16.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $371.82 million, a PE ratio of 14.16 and a beta of 1.26. North American Construction Group has a 12-month low of $12.23 and a 12-month high of $22.08.

North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.66 by ($0.42). The company had revenue of $235.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $231.51 million. North American Construction Group had a net margin of 2.82% and a return on equity of 17.15%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that North American Construction Group will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

North American Construction Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.0872 per share. This is a boost from North American Construction Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. This represents a $0.35 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. North American Construction Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On North American Construction Group

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NOA. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of North American Construction Group by 70.3% in the 1st quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 1,740,985 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $27,577,000 after acquiring an additional 718,884 shares in the last quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd lifted its position in shares of North American Construction Group by 619.2% in the 4th quarter. AYAL Capital Advisors Ltd now owns 418,570 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $9,045,000 after acquiring an additional 360,370 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. lifted its position in shares of North American Construction Group by 106,111.8% in the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 278,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,463,000 after acquiring an additional 278,013 shares in the last quarter. NewGen Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of North American Construction Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,368,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of North American Construction Group by 80.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 326,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,214,000 after acquiring an additional 145,745 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.99% of the company’s stock.

About North American Construction Group

North American Construction Group Ltd. provides mining and heavy civil construction services to customers in the resource development and industrial construction sectors in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The company operates Heavy Equipment – Canada, Heavy Equipment – Australia, and Other segments.