Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from C$25.00 to C$28.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aecon Group traded as high as C$20.56 and last traded at C$20.52, with a volume of 39705 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$20.32.

ARE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Aecon Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Aecon Group from C$17.00 to C$16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. CIBC decreased their target price on Aecon Group from C$23.00 to C$22.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. National Bankshares raised shares of Aecon Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from C$17.00 to C$20.50 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Aecon Group from C$25.00 to C$30.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$21.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aecon Group

In other news, Director Scott Stewart acquired 10,000 shares of Aecon Group stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$16.54 per share, for a total transaction of C$165,380.00. In other Aecon Group news, Director Scott Stewart bought 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$16.54 per share, with a total value of C$165,380.00. Also, Senior Officer Timothy John Murphy purchased 4,244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$17.66 per share, with a total value of C$74,969.84. Insiders purchased a total of 16,549 shares of company stock valued at $274,762 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Aecon Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.86. The firm has a market cap of C$1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -75.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of C$17.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$16.91.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C($1.99) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C($2.53) by C$0.54. Aecon Group had a return on equity of 1.40% and a net margin of 0.32%. The firm had revenue of C$853.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$1.01 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Aecon Group Inc. will post 1.3797814 earnings per share for the current year.

Aecon Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th. Aecon Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -281.48%.

About Aecon Group

Aecon Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors.