Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) Price Target Raised to C$17.80 at Paradigm Capital

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) had its price objective hoisted by Paradigm Capital from C$14.00 to C$17.80 in a research report released on Friday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Paradigm Capital currently has a hold rating on the stock.

ARE has been the topic of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Aecon Group from C$17.00 to C$18.25 in a report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price objective on Aecon Group from C$16.00 to C$17.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a report on Friday. ATB Capital lifted their target price on Aecon Group from C$15.25 to C$19.50 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Desjardins lifted their target price on Aecon Group from C$16.00 to C$20.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, March 7th. Finally, National Bankshares lifted their target price on Aecon Group from C$15.00 to C$18.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of C$19.17.

Aecon Group Price Performance

ARE stock opened at C$17.05 on Friday. Aecon Group has a 52-week low of C$8.42 and a 52-week high of C$17.40. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$16.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$13.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 39.29. The stock has a market capitalization of C$1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.16.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The company reported C($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C($0.14) by C$0.04. Aecon Group had a return on equity of 16.04% and a net margin of 3.49%. The business had revenue of C$846.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$1.03 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Aecon Group will post 0.7603047 EPS for the current year.

Aecon Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 22nd were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 21st. This is a boost from Aecon Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.19. Aecon Group’s payout ratio is currently 36.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Stuart Lee acquired 7,000 shares of Aecon Group stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were bought at an average price of C$16.33 per share, for a total transaction of C$114,310.00. In other Aecon Group news, Senior Officer Adam Robert Borgatti bought 4,231 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$13.07 per share, with a total value of C$55,299.17. Also, Director Stuart Lee bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$16.33 per share, for a total transaction of C$114,310.00. 1.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Aecon Group Company Profile

Aecon Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provide construction and infrastructure development services to private and public sector clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Construction and Concessions. The Construction segment focuses on civil infrastructure, urban transportation solutions, nuclear power infrastructure, utility infrastructure, and conventional industrial infrastructure market sectors.