Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.16

Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 26th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th will be paid a dividend of 0.1574 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16.

Stantec has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 12 years. Stantec has a payout ratio of 15.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Stantec to earn $3.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.59 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Stantec Stock Up 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE:STN traded up $5.62 on Wednesday, reaching $89.36. The company had a trading volume of 376,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 134,461. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.93. Stantec has a 52-week low of $73.18 and a 52-week high of $90.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of 40.62 and a beta of 1.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on STN. Canaccord Genuity Group upgraded Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised shares of Stantec from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Stantec presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

About Stantec

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.