Raymond James Upgrades North American Construction Group (TSE:NOA) to “Strong-Buy”

Raymond James upgraded shares of North American Construction Group (TSE:NOA) (NYSE:NOA) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have C$40.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on NOA. CIBC raised North American Construction Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$30.00 to C$38.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on North American Construction Group from C$39.00 to C$40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. ATB Capital cut their price objective on shares of North American Construction Group from C$40.00 to C$38.00 in a report on Friday, November 1st. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of North American Construction Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price target on shares of North American Construction Group from C$32.00 to C$33.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, North American Construction Group has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of C$37.63.

North American Construction Group Price Performance

North American Construction Group stock opened at C$29.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of C$781.59 million, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.59. North American Construction Group has a 12-month low of C$22.68 and a 12-month high of C$34.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 210.33, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$29.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$27.08.

North American Construction Group (TSE:NOA) (NYSE:NOA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported C$1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of C$1.10 by C$0.02. The firm had revenue of C$286.86 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$294.95 million. North American Construction Group had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 15.19%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that North American Construction Group will post 4.0597484 earnings per share for the current year.

North American Construction Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This is an increase from North American Construction Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.10. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 27th. North American Construction Group’s payout ratio is currently 21.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Martin Robert Ferron bought 2,900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$27.68 per share, with a total value of C$80,272.00. Insiders own 8.93% of the company’s stock.

About North American Construction Group

North American Construction Group Ltd. provides mining and heavy civil construction services to customers in the resource development and industrial construction sectors in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The company operates Heavy Equipment – Canada, Heavy Equipment – Australia, and Other segments.