Stantec (TSE:STN) Sets New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Stantec Inc. (TSE:STN - Get Free Report) NYSE: STN shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$144.71 and last traded at C$144.65, with a volume of 100475 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$143.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Desjardins lifted their target price on Stantec from C$148.00 to C$153.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. ATB Capital boosted their target price on Stantec from C$140.00 to C$145.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Stantec from C$143.00 to C$156.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. CIBC boosted their target price on Stantec from C$141.00 to C$156.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Stantec from C$144.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of C$148.42.

Stantec Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of C$16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 85.29, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a current ratio of 1.42. The business's 50-day moving average price is C$128.28 and its 200-day moving average price is C$120.02.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. This is an increase from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.21. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. Stantec's dividend payout ratio is presently 28.03%.

Insider Transactions at Stantec

In other news, Director Clayton Bock bought 1,250 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$139.51 per share, for a total transaction of C$174,392.88. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Stantec Company Profile

Stantec Inc is a sustainable engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting company. The company is geographically diversified in three regional operating units namely Canada, the United States and Global, offering similar services across all regions. The company offers services in various sectors across the project life cycle through five business operating units infrastructure, water, buildings, environmental services, and energy and resources.