D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Sells 19,200 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lowered its position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Free Report) TSE: STN by 64.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,800 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 19,200 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Stantec were worth $847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of STN. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised 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 purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in Stantec by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Natixis grew its stake in Stantec by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 1,781 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $140,000 after acquiring an additional 952 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in Stantec by 11.2% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Stantec in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company's stock.

Stantec Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:STN traded up $0.46 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.88. 94,494 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 144,823. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.18 and a fifty-two week high of $104.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.31 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.1612 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. This is an increase from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. Stantec's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on STN shares. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James upgraded Stantec from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Stantec from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy".

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.