Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Receives Average Recommendation of "Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on STN shares. Wall Street Zen raised Stantec from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th.

Stantec Price Performance

STN stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.43. The stock had a trading volume of 135,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 151,320. Stantec has a 52-week low of $73.18 and a 52-week high of $110.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $103.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.88. The company has a market cap of $12.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.63 and a beta of 1.03.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last posted its quarterly 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. Stantec had a net margin of 5.01% and a return on equity of 18.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Stantec will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.1612 dividend. This is a boost from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Stantec's dividend payout ratio is 27.27%.

Institutional Trading of Stantec

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in STN. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 166.5% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 22,342,818 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,751,093,000 after buying an additional 13,958,790 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth approximately $110,221,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Stantec by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,309,182 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $359,131,000 after purchasing an additional 964,188 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,191,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Stantec by 19.3% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,344,994 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $262,791,000 after purchasing an additional 542,305 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company's stock.

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.