Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Aecon a consensus "Hold" rating (6 hold, 4 buy) with an average 12‑month target of C$43.58, and several brokers recently revised targets upward (TD C$49, BMO C$45, RBC C$41) while Stifel lowered its target.
• Shares trade around C$42 (near a 52‑week high of C$44.71), but valuation appears rich with a P/E of 182.74 and slim profitability (net margin 0.28%, ROE 1.66%).
• The company pays a quarterly dividend (annualized C$0.77, yield 1.8%) despite a very high payout ratio of 330%, and a director recently sold 125,000 shares (~C$5.2M), cutting his holding by about 40%.

Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$43.58.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ARE shares. TD Securities upped their price objective on Aecon Group from C$47.00 to C$49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Aecon Group from C$40.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Aecon Group from C$30.00 to C$41.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price objective on Aecon Group from C$38.75 to C$44.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Aecon Group from C$34.25 to C$28.75 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 9th.

Aecon Group Stock Performance

Shares of ARE opened at C$42.03 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.17. The business's 50 day moving average price is C$39.20 and its 200-day moving average price is C$32.40. Aecon Group has a 52 week low of C$15.21 and a 52 week high of C$44.71. The stock has a market cap of C$2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 182.74, a P/E/G ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.97.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.52 EPS for the quarter. Aecon Group had a return on equity of 1.66% and a net margin of 0.28%.The firm had revenue of C$1.54 billion for the quarter. Equities research analysts anticipate that Aecon Group will post 1.3793321 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Aecon Group Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were given a $0.1925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Aecon Group's dividend payout ratio is 330.43%.

Insider Transactions at Aecon Group

In related news, Director Eric Stuart Rosenfeld sold 125,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$41.64, for a total value of C$5,205,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 184,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$7,670,088. This represents a 40.43% decrease in their position. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company's stock.

About Aecon Group

Aecon Group Inc is a Canada-based company that operates in two segments: Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment includes various aspects of the construction of public and private infrastructure projects, mainly in the transportation sector. Its concessions segment is engaged in the development, financing, construction, and operation of infrastructure projects. Aecon generates the majority of its revenue from the Construction segment.

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