Graham Capital Management L.P. Invests $207,000 in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Free Report) TSE: STN in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,635 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Stantec by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 311,713 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $24,454,000 after acquiring an additional 36,738 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Stantec in the fourth quarter worth $1,191,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in Stantec by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 544,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,717,000 after purchasing an additional 57,166 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Stantec by 114.3% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 23,679 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,858,000 after buying an additional 12,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXA S.A. boosted its stake in Stantec by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 123,211 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,666,000 after buying an additional 18,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.86% of the company's stock.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of Stantec stock traded up $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.91. 82,902 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 143,968. Stantec Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.18 and a 52 week high of $103.32. The stock has a market cap of $11.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40 and a beta of 0.98. The firm's fifty day moving average is $88.07 and its 200-day moving average is $83.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Research analysts expect that Stantec Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.1612 per share. This is an increase from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Stantec's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on STN. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th. Raymond James raised shares of Stantec from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Stantec from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stantec currently has an average rating of "Buy".

Stantec 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.