North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered North American Construction Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cibc World Mkts lowered North American Construction Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Securities lowered North American Construction Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. CIBC lowered North American Construction Group to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Atb Cap Markets lowered North American Construction Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, North American Construction Group presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

North American Construction Group Stock Down 1.2%

NOA opened at $14.45 on Tuesday. North American Construction Group has a fifty-two week low of $12.12 and a fifty-two week high of $22.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $13.92 and a 200-day moving average of $15.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $423.39 million, a PE ratio of 16.61 and a beta of 1.21.

North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The oil and gas company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.66 by ($0.42). The firm had revenue of $235.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $231.51 million. North American Construction Group had a return on equity of 17.15% and a net margin of 2.82%. Equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, October 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th were issued a $0.0872 dividend. This is an increase from North American Construction Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. North American Construction Group’s payout ratio is 40.23%.

Institutional Trading of North American Construction Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its holdings in shares of North American Construction Group by 70.3% during the 1st quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 1,740,985 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $27,577,000 after purchasing an additional 718,884 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of North American Construction Group by 106,111.8% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 278,275 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $4,463,000 after purchasing an additional 278,013 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of North American Construction Group by 80.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 326,266 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $5,214,000 after purchasing an additional 145,745 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of North American Construction Group by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,244,637 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $35,941,000 after purchasing an additional 98,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intact Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of North American Construction Group by 31.2% during the 2nd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 233,600 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,737,000 after purchasing an additional 55,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.