Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 2,635 Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Free Report) TSE: STN during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,635 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Stantec by 632.8% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 491 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Stantec by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares in the last quarter. Natixis grew its position in Stantec by 114.8% in the 4th quarter. Natixis now owns 1,781 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its position in Stantec by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,359 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stantec during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Stantec Stock Up 1.2%

STN stock traded up $1.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $101.94. 167,273 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 144,681. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $88.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.34 and a beta of 0.98. Stantec Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.18 and a 52-week high of $103.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

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

Stantec Increases Dividend

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

About Stantec

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.