Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) Sets New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after National Bank Financial raised their price target on the stock from C$45.00 to C$48.00. National Bank Financial currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Aecon Group traded as high as C$45.00 and last traded at C$44.74, with a volume of 52811 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$43.52.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ARE. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$30.00 to C$41.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Desjardins raised their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$43.00 to C$45.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$38.75 to C$44.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. ATB Cormark Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$39.00 to C$42.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$34.25 to C$28.75 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$43.88.

Insider Activity at Aecon Group

In other news, Director Eric Stuart Rosenfeld sold 125,000 shares of Aecon Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$41.64, for a total transaction of C$5,205,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 184,200 shares in the company, valued at C$7,670,088. The trade was a 40.43% decrease in their position. 0.82% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Aecon Group Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is C$39.36 and its 200 day moving average price is C$32.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 65.17, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of C$3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.52, a PEG ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 0.97.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 5th. The company reported C$0.52 EPS for the quarter. Aecon Group had a net margin of 0.28% and a return on equity of 1.66%. The company had revenue of C$1.54 billion during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Aecon Group Inc. will post 1.3793321 EPS for the current year.

Aecon Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.1925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 23rd. This represents a $0.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Aecon Group’s payout ratio is currently 330.43%.

Aecon Group Company Profile

Aecon Group Inc is a Canada-based company that operates in two segments: Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment includes various aspects of the construction of public and private infrastructure projects, mainly in the transportation sector. Its concessions segment is engaged in the development, financing, construction, and operation of infrastructure projects. Aecon generates the majority of its revenue from the Construction segment.