Brokerages Set Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) Target Price at C$88.71

Shares of Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$88.71.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. CIBC upped their target price on Stella-Jones from C$85.00 to C$86.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$96.00 to C$94.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Stella-Jones from C$91.00 to C$94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. National Bankshares raised their price target on shares of Stella-Jones from C$87.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Finally, Desjardins decreased their price objective on shares of Stella-Jones from C$94.00 to C$92.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stella-Jones

In other Stella-Jones news, Senior Officer Richard Cuddihy purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$72.45 per share, for a total transaction of C$36,225.00. In related news, Senior Officer Richard Cuddihy purchased 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$72.45 per share, with a total value of C$36,225.00. Also, Director Simon Pelletier acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$73.15 per share, for a total transaction of C$146,290.00. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 3,800 shares of company stock valued at $251,922. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Stella-Jones Stock Performance

Shares of SJ opened at C$72.49 on Friday. Stella-Jones has a 12 month low of C$53.49 and a 12 month high of C$85.77. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$78.11 and a 200-day moving average price of C$78.18. The company has a current ratio of 5.07, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 97.46. The firm has a market cap of C$4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.68.

Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 29th. The company reported C$0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$0.90 by C$0.08. Stella-Jones had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 9.82%. The business had revenue of C$688.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$722.50 million. Equities research analysts predict that Stella-Jones will post 5.7169407 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Stella-Jones Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 19th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is a positive change from Stella-Jones’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Stella-Jones’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.93%.

About Stella-Jones

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells pressure-treated wood products in Canada and the United States. It operates through two segments, Pressure-Treated Wood; and Logs and Lumber. The company offers railway ties and timbers for short line and commercial railroad operators; and wood utility poles for electrical utilities and telecommunication companies.