Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Scotiabank upgraded the stock from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating. Scotiabank now has a C$98.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$88.00. Stella-Jones traded as high as C$92.84 and last traded at C$91.27, with a volume of 84994 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$88.10.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. National Bankshares raised their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$95.00 to C$107.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Cibc World Mkts cut shares of Stella-Jones from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. CIBC lowered their price target on Stella-Jones from C$90.00 to C$89.00 in a research note on Friday, November 7th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$90.00 to C$97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$78.00 to C$87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$97.14.

Insider Activity at Stella-Jones

In related news, Director Michelle Annette Banik acquired 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$84.60 per share, with a total value of C$39,931.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 472 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$39,931.20. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Stella-Jones Stock Up 3.7%

The company has a current ratio of 6.85, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 87.53. The firm has a market cap of C$5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of -0.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$86.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$82.03.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$1.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Stella-Jones had a net margin of 9.43% and a return on equity of 18.36%. The firm had revenue of C$958.00 million for the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that Stella-Jones Inc. will post 6.4457565 EPS for the current year.

About Stella-Jones

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells lumber and wood products. The company operates in two segments: Pressure-treated wood, which includes utility poles, railway ties, residential lumber, and industrial products; and Logs & Lumber segment comprises of the sales of logs harvested in the course of the company’s procurement process that is determined to be unsuitable for use as utility poles, it also includes the sale of excess lumber to local home-building markets. The vast majority of its revenue comes from the Pressure-treated wood segment.