AJOVista LLC Buys Shares of 10,800 Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

AJOVista LLC acquired 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 and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $867,000. Stantec accounts for 1.1% of AJOVista LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Stantec by 17.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 863 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Stantec by 207.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 187,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,134,000 after purchasing an additional 126,274 shares during the period. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in Stantec by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. now owns 173,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,223,000 after purchasing an additional 20,900 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Stantec in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,330,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Stantec by 7.9% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,243,506 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $81,058,000 after buying an additional 91,021 shares in the last quarter. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Stantec Stock Performance

Shares of STN stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.73. The stock had a trading volume of 94,300 shares, compared to its average volume of 109,578. The firm has a market cap of $9.55 billion, a PE ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.05. Stantec Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.49 and a fifty-two week high of $87.53. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $82.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by ($0.03). Stantec had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 5.11%. The business had revenue of $912.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $891.12 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.1548 per share. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Stantec’s payout ratio is currently 26.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Atb Cap Markets downgraded shares of Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Stantec has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.00.

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.