Cumberland Partners Ltd Buys 8,868 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Cumberland Partners Ltd grew its stake in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 153.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,868 shares during the quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Stantec were worth $1,183,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of STN. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new stake in shares of Stantec during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Stantec during the 3rd quarter worth $52,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of Stantec by 456.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,726 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $177,000 after buying an additional 2,236 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth $214,000. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Stantec during the 3rd quarter worth $291,000. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Stantec Price Performance

Shares of Stantec stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.02. 58,014 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 110,678. Stantec Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.49 and a 1-year high of $87.53. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.76 and a beta of 1.04.

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 firm had revenue of $912.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $891.12 million. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1548 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Stantec Company 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.