Stantec (NYSE:STN) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on STN. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Stantec in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research raised Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Stantec from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Stantec from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $175.00.

Stantec Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:STN opened at $91.26 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22 and a beta of 1.12. Stantec has a twelve month low of $84.08 and a twelve month high of $114.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $89.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The business services provider reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.65 billion. Stantec had a return on equity of 17.56% and a net margin of 5.90%.Stantec has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.370-4.490 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Stantec will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.245 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.98 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,966,062 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $468,622,000 after acquiring an additional 92,641 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 4,464,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $421,321,000 after acquiring an additional 897,912 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 4,131,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $389,890,000 after acquiring an additional 117,613 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 3,475,699 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,680,000 after acquiring an additional 26,388 shares during the period. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 2,469,545 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $266,236,000 after acquiring an additional 84,251 shares during the period. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Stantec

Stantec is a global design and consulting firm offering professional services in engineering, architecture, and environmental sciences. The company partners with public and private clients to deliver solutions spanning infrastructure, water, energy and resources, and community development. Through an integrated approach, Stantec manages projects from initial planning and conceptual design through construction and commissioning, focusing on sustainability and innovation.

The firm’s service portfolio includes civil infrastructure design, building systems engineering, environmental assessments, and project management.