Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 1,702 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,910 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,702 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Stantec were worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Calamos Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Stantec in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,330,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stantec during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $15,499,000. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 20,900 shares during the period. Barometer Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Stantec by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barometer Capital Management Inc. now owns 93,090 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,039,000 after purchasing an additional 14,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd boosted its position in Stantec by 2,605.6% during the second quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Europe Ltd now owns 157,197 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $18,073,000 after purchasing an additional 151,387 shares during the period. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

STN has been the subject of a number of research reports. Atb Cap Markets cut shares of Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Stantec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

Stantec Price Performance

NYSE:STN traded down $0.81 on Thursday, hitting $83.01. The company had a trading volume of 145,988 shares, compared to its average volume of 112,221. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $82.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $74.70. Stantec Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.37 and a 52 week high of $87.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.10 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.11% and a return on equity of 16.50%. The business had revenue of $912.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $891.12 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.1548 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Stantec’s payout ratio is presently 26.36%.

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.