Swiss National Bank Sells 11,800 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Free Report) TSE: STN by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 360,770 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,800 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.32% of Stantec worth $29,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of STN. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp acquired a new position in shares of Stantec in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Stantec in the third quarter valued at about $52,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in Stantec by 456.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,726 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Stantec during the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Stantec in the 3rd quarter valued at about $291,000. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Stantec from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.00.

Stantec Trading Down 3.2 %

STN traded down $2.72 during trading on Thursday, reaching $82.20. 150,400 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 112,544. Stantec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.49 and a fifty-two week high of $87.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.38 billion, a PE ratio of 37.36 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day moving average price is $82.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.12.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $912.51 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $891.12 million. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 5.11%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Stantec Inc. will post 3.14 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1548 dividend. This is a positive change from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Stantec's payout ratio is 27.73%.

Stantec Company 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.