Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. Sells 50,348 Shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. cut its stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 271,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50,348 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Stantec were worth $21,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its stake in shares of Stantec by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 3,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp bought a new position in Stantec in the third quarter worth $26,000. Canoe Financial LP lifted its position in Stantec by 0.4% during the third quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 118,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,694,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Stantec during the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Stantec by 17.3% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 863 shares during the period. 63.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Stantec Stock Down 1.8 %

STN stock traded down $1.48 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.82. 22,156 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 110,096. The stock has a market cap of $9.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. Stantec Inc. has a 1 year low of $56.49 and a 1 year high of $87.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.22.

Stantec (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 28th. The business services provider reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.63 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $912.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $891.12 million. Stantec had a return on equity of 16.50% and a net margin of 5.11%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Stantec Inc. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a $0.1548 dividend. This is a positive change from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. Stantec’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Atb Cap Markets lowered Stantec from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Stantec presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.00.

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.