First Affirmative Financial Network Invests $201,000 in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

First Affirmative Financial Network bought a new stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Stantec in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,382,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in Stantec by 121.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 1,225,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,654,000 after purchasing an additional 671,306 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Stantec by 38.4% during the 1st quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,178,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,223,000 after purchasing an additional 327,185 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Stantec by 119.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 588,203 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,198,000 after purchasing an additional 320,602 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triasima Portfolio Management inc. acquired a new position in Stantec in the first quarter valued at $18,456,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

STN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Stantec from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Stantec from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Stantec from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.20.

Stantec Stock Down 1.7 %

Stantec stock opened at $66.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $66.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.23. The company has a market cap of $7.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.68 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.47. Stantec Inc. has a 1-year low of $43.04 and a 1-year high of $69.02.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 9th. The business services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by $0.04. Stantec had a net margin of 4.78% and a return on equity of 16.29%. The business had revenue of $952.03 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $915.79 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Stantec Inc. will post 2.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th will be issued a $0.147 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 28th. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.59 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.79%.

About Stantec

Stantec Inc provides e professional services in the areas of infrastructure and facilities to the public and private sectors clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics.