National Bank Financial Downgrades Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) to Sector Perform

Key Points

• National Bank Financial downgraded Stella-Jones from "outperform" to "sector perform" and cut its price target to C$95 (from C$107), implying roughly an 11% upside from the prior close.
• Shares fell 2.9% to C$85.54 on the news; the company reported quarterly EPS of C$0.91 and revenue of C$727 million, with a market cap of C$4.67 billion and a P/E of 14.05.
• Analyst coverage is mixed but leaning positive — four Buys and three Holds give a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target of C$99.57, while several banks have recently raised their targets.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at National Bank Financial from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. They presently have a C$95.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of C$107.00. National Bank Financial's price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.06% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Stella-Jones from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from C$88.00 to C$98.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Stella-Jones from C$89.00 to C$95.00 in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Desjardins set a C$102.00 target price on shares of Stella-Jones and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$97.00 to C$107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$90.00 to C$100.00 in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$99.57.

Stella-Jones Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of Stella-Jones stock traded down C$2.53 during trading on Wednesday, reaching C$85.54. 105,619 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 127,598. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 92.30, a current ratio of 7.40 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Stella-Jones has a 1-year low of C$62.26 and a 1-year high of C$101.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$95.05 and a 200-day moving average price of C$87.73. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of -0.11.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported C$0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Stella-Jones had a net margin of 9.65% and a return on equity of 16.67%. The company had revenue of C$727.00 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Stella-Jones will post 6.4457565 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stella-Jones Company Profile

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells lumber and wood products. The company operates in two segments: Pressure-treated wood, which includes utility poles, railway ties, residential lumber, and industrial products; and Logs & Lumber segment comprises of the sales of logs harvested in the course of the company's procurement process that is determined to be unsuitable for use as utility poles, it also includes the sale of excess lumber to local home-building markets. The vast majority of its revenue comes from the Pressure-treated wood segment.

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