Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average of $77.17

Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$77.17 and traded as high as C$80.84. Stella-Jones shares last traded at C$80.00, with a volume of 107,751 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SJ. National Bankshares boosted their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$87.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. TD Securities dropped their price objective on shares of Stella-Jones from C$96.00 to C$94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 1st. CIBC lifted their target price on shares of Stella-Jones from C$85.00 to C$86.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Desjardins decreased their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$94.00 to C$92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$91.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$88.71.

Stella-Jones Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is C$78.09 and its 200 day moving average price is C$77.28. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.46, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 5.07.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$0.90 by C$0.08. Stella-Jones had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 9.82%. The firm had revenue of C$688.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$722.50 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Stella-Jones Inc. will post 5.7146953 EPS for the current year.

Stella-Jones Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. This is a boost from Stella-Jones’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Stella-Jones’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.93%.

Insider Transactions at Stella-Jones

In related news, Senior Officer Richard Cuddihy purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$72.45 per share, with a total value of C$36,225.00. In other news, Senior Officer Richard Cuddihy bought 500 shares of Stella-Jones stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$72.45 per share, for a total transaction of C$36,225.00. Also, Director Kevin Patrick Comerford purchased 1,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$53.39 per share, for a total transaction of C$69,407.00. Insiders purchased a total of 3,800 shares of company stock valued at $251,922 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Stella-Jones

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells pressure-treated wood products in Canada and the United States. It operates through two segments, Pressure-Treated Wood; and Logs and Lumber. The company offers railway ties and timbers for short line and commercial railroad operators; and wood utility poles for electrical utilities and telecommunication companies.