Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) Shares Sold by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) (TSE:STN) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 542,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 208,344 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Stantec were worth $42,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Stantec during the fourth quarter valued at about $110,221,000. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Stantec by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,496,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $273,970,000 after purchasing an additional 302,979 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Stantec by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,983,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $155,433,000 after purchasing an additional 207,470 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Stantec by 90.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 373,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,339,000 after purchasing an additional 177,692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Stantec by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 689,644 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $55,465,000 after buying an additional 166,063 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.86% of the company’s stock.

Stantec Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:STN opened at $85.31 on Friday. 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 market capitalization of $9.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.78 and a beta of 1.00. Stantec Inc. has a one year low of $73.18 and a one year high of $90.24. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.48.

Stantec Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th will be issued a $0.1574 dividend. This represents a $0.63 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. This is an increase from Stantec’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 28th. Stantec’s payout ratio is 26.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.