Amiral Gestion Invests $823,000 in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Amiral Gestion purchased a new stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 10,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000. Stantec comprises 0.5% of Amiral Gestion’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Stantec by 73.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 31,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 13,107 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Stantec by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Stantec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,635,000. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Stantec by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 228,418 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,914,000 after acquiring an additional 9,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Stantec by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 103,304 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,101,000 after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on STN. TD Securities reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Stantec in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Stantec from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Stantec presently has an average rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE:STN opened at $101.94 on Friday. Stantec Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.18 and a 1 year high of $103.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $88.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.51. The stock has a market cap of $11.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.34 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 14th. The business services provider reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.57% and a net margin of 4.78%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stantec Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a $0.1612 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.62%.

Stantec 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.