StockNews.com Upgrades North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Separately, TD Cowen upgraded North American Construction Group from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

North American Construction Group Stock Performance

NYSE:NOA opened at $19.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.81. North American Construction Group has a 1 year low of $18.30 and a 1 year high of $26.30. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.81. The company has a market cap of $517.42 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.66 and a beta of 1.50.

North American Construction Group (NYSE:NOA) (TSE:NOA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The oil and gas company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $220.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $217.28 million. North American Construction Group had a return on equity of 19.48% and a net margin of 5.21%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that North American Construction Group will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

North American Construction Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 5th. Investors of record on Friday, May 31st were issued a dividend of $0.0726 per share. This represents a $0.29 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 31st. North American Construction Group’s payout ratio is currently 21.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On North American Construction Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in North American Construction Group during the 1st quarter valued at $742,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in North American Construction Group by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 354,621 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $7,867,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in North American Construction Group by 686.8% during the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 17,428 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 15,213 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in North American Construction Group by 53.6% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 839,759 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $18,681,000 after acquiring an additional 293,070 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its holdings in North American Construction Group by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 49,900 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.99% of the company’s stock.

About North American Construction Group

North American Construction Group Ltd. provides mining and heavy civil construction services to customers in the resource development and industrial construction sectors in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The company operates Heavy Equipment – Canada, Heavy Equipment – Australia, and Other segments.