Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its stake in Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 27.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 542,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 208,344 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.48% of Stantec worth $42,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Stantec by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,739 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $140,000 after buying an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Stantec by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,359 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $185,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Stantec during the 4th quarter worth $205,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new position in shares of Stantec during the 4th quarter worth approximately $212,000. Finally, Sava Infond d.o.o. acquired a new stake in shares of Stantec in the fourth quarter valued at about $275,000. 63.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Stantec Stock Performance

Shares of STN stock opened at $85.31 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.48. Stantec Inc. has a one year low of $73.18 and a one year high of $90.24.

Stantec Increases Dividend

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

Stantec Company Profile

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.