Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) Receives C$88.71 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$88.71.

A number of brokerages recently commented on SJ. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$96.00 to C$94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$89.00 to C$86.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Desjardins lowered their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$94.00 to C$92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. National Bankshares upped their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$87.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$91.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Transactions at Stella-Jones

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

Stella-Jones Stock Performance

SJ stock opened at C$80.12 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.46. The firm has a market cap of C$4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.68. Stella-Jones has a 12-month low of C$52.74 and a 12-month high of C$85.77. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$78.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$78.07.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.90 by C$0.08. The business had revenue of C$688.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$722.50 million. Stella-Jones had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 9.82%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Stella-Jones 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.28 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Stella-Jones’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.93%.

Stella-Jones Company Profile

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.