Principal Financial Group Inc. Purchases 519,545 Shares of Stantec Inc. $STN

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group boosted its stake in Stantec by 126%, buying an additional 519,545 shares to hold 932,025 shares (≈0.82% of the company) worth about $88.07 million at quarter-end.
• Stantec beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.90 vs. $0.87) but missed on revenue ($1.19B vs. $1.65B), and set FY2026 guidance of 4.370–4.490 EPS (analysts' consensus ~4.47).
• Stantec raised its quarterly dividend to $0.245 (annualized $0.98, ~1.1% yield) and carries a consensus Buy rating from analysts with an average price target of $175.00.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Free Report) TSE: STN by 126.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 932,025 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 519,545 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.82% of Stantec worth $88,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stantec by 12.5% during the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 281,746 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $30,379,000 after acquiring an additional 31,383 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Stantec by 3.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,873,421 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $525,584,000 after acquiring an additional 152,170 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Stantec by 3.5% during the third quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,469,545 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $266,236,000 after acquiring an additional 84,251 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Stantec by 6.6% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,566,821 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $384,584,000 after acquiring an additional 219,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Stantec by 0.8% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,475,699 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $374,680,000 after acquiring an additional 26,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company's stock.

Stantec Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:STN opened at $92.13 on Thursday. Stantec Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.08 and a 52-week high of $114.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.51 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $89.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.90.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.03. Stantec had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 5.90%.The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.65 billion. Stantec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.370-4.490 EPS. Analysts expect that Stantec Inc. will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.245 per share. This represents a $0.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is an increase from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Stantec's payout ratio is presently 23.18%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Stantec from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Stantec from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research raised Stantec from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Stantec from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and six have assigned a Buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Stantec presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $175.00.

Stantec Company Profile

Stantec is a global design and consulting firm offering professional services in engineering, architecture, and environmental sciences. The company partners with public and private clients to deliver solutions spanning infrastructure, water, energy and resources, and community development. Through an integrated approach, Stantec manages projects from initial planning and conceptual design through construction and commissioning, focusing on sustainability and innovation.

The firm's service portfolio includes civil infrastructure design, building systems engineering, environmental assessments, and project management.

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