Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.16 Per Share

Stantec Inc. (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 7th,Zacks Dividends reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.155 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Stantec's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15.

Stantec has increased its dividend by an average of 8.0% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 12 consecutive years. Stantec has a dividend payout ratio of 17.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Stantec to earn $3.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.61 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 17.1%.

Stantec Trading Down 4.7 %

STN stock traded down $3.95 on Friday, reaching $80.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 165,469 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,435. The firm has a market cap of $9.20 billion, a PE ratio of 36.00 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.39. Stantec has a 12-month low of $62.91 and a 12-month high of $88.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

Stantec (NYSE:STN - Get Free Report) TSE: STN last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.81 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.09 billion. Stantec had a net margin of 4.96% and a return on equity of 16.22%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Stantec will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on STN. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Stantec in a report on Friday, October 25th. They issued a "sector outperform" rating for the company. Raymond James lowered Stantec from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Stantec from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday.

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.