First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Holdings in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 720,143 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,115 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.63% of Stantec worth $56,494,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in STN. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Stantec by 3.1% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 4,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Stantec by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 3,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Stantec by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 4,880 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in shares of Stantec by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James raised shares of Stantec from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy”.

Stantec Stock Down 1.0 %

Stantec stock opened at $85.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $9.71 billion, a PE ratio of 38.68 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $82.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.74. Stantec Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.18 and a 1-year high of $90.24.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.1574 per share. This is a boost from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. This represents a $0.63 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Stantec’s payout ratio is presently 26.61%.

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.