Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Given Average Recommendation of "Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) has received a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from seven research firms, indicating positive sentiment from analysts regarding the stock's performance.
• The company reported earnings of $0.98 per share for the latest quarter, matching analysts' expectations, but its revenue fell short of expectations at $1.17 billion.
• Stantec has increased its quarterly dividend to $0.1635 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders, and maintains a payout ratio of 24.09%.

Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN has received an average rating of "Buy" from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on STN shares. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. CIBC restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Stantec from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "buy" rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 166.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,624,935 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $383,352,000 after buying an additional 49,857 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Stantec by 28.8% during the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 4,309,182 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $359,131,000 after buying an additional 964,188 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 82.4% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,449,311 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $374,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Stantec by 0.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,017,230 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $249,946,000 after purchasing an additional 8,268 shares in the last quarter. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Stantec Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of STN stock traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $108.76. 117,737 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 202,497. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $109.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.98. The stock has a market cap of $12.41 billion, a PE ratio of 39.69 and a beta of 1.07. Stantec has a 12 month low of $73.18 and a 12 month high of $113.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 13th. The business services provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.98. Stantec had a net margin of 5.62% and a return on equity of 19.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.64 billion. Stantec has set its FY 2025 guidance at 3.784-3.880 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.1635 per share. This is an increase from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.65 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 29th. Stantec's dividend payout ratio is 23.36%.

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.