Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Stella-Jones received an average analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from eight brokerages, with five buy ratings and three hold ratings. The average 12-month price target is C$94.38.
• Several analysts have recently cut price targets on the stock, including National Bank Financial, Raymond James, RBC, CIBC, and Desjardins, reflecting more cautious views despite continued buy recommendations from some firms.
• The shares were trading down about 1% at C$75.95, while the company reported quarterly EPS of C$1.12 on revenue of C$791 million in its latest earnings release.

Shares of Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the eight brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$94.38.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. National Bank Financial cut Stella-Jones from an "outperform" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from C$107.00 to C$95.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Stella-Jones from C$100.00 to C$95.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Stella-Jones from C$85.00 to C$82.00 in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lowered their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$87.00 to C$82.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of Stella-Jones from C$107.00 to C$104.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th.

Stella-Jones Trading Down 1.0%

TSE:SJ opened at C$75.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.76, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of -0.07. The company has a current ratio of 4.96, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 80.71. Stella-Jones has a 12 month low of C$69.94 and a 12 month high of C$101.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of C$78.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$86.12.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported C$1.12 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$791.00 million during the quarter. Stella-Jones had a return on equity of 14.85% and a net margin of 8.66%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Stella-Jones will post 6.4457565 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenner James purchased 937 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$73.22 per share, with a total value of C$68,607.14. Following the purchase, the director owned 1,834 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$134,285.48. This represents a 104.46% increase in their position. Also, Director Anne Elizabeth Giardini bought 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$71.25 per share, for a total transaction of C$71,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$242,250. This represents a 41.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 3,443 shares of company stock valued at $247,814. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Stella-Jones

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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