Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Aecon Group Inc. (TSE:ARE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on the stock from C$25.00 to C$28.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Aecon Group traded as high as C$20.56 and last traded at C$20.52, with a volume of 39705 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$20.32.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ARE. National Bankshares upgraded Aecon Group from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from C$17.00 to C$20.50 in a report on Monday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Aecon Group from C$25.00 to C$30.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Aecon Group from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Aecon Group from C$17.50 to C$16.50 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price target on shares of Aecon Group from C$17.00 to C$16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$21.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Senior Officer Timothy John Murphy bought 4,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$17.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$74,969.84. In other news, Director Scott Stewart bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$16.54 per share, with a total value of C$165,380.00. Also, Senior Officer Timothy John Murphy purchased 4,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$17.66 per share, for a total transaction of C$74,969.84. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 16,549 shares of company stock worth $274,762. Corporate insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Aecon Group Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$1.28 billion, a PE ratio of -75.26, a PEG ratio of 18.18 and a beta of 1.12. The business has a fifty day moving average price of C$17.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$16.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 32.86.

Aecon Group (TSE:ARE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The company reported C($1.99) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C($2.53) by C$0.54. Aecon Group had a return on equity of 1.40% and a net margin of 0.32%. The firm had revenue of C$853.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$1.01 billion. Analysts expect that Aecon Group Inc. will post 1.3797814 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Aecon Group Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 2nd will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. Aecon Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently -281.48%.

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.