Stella-Jones (TSE:SJ) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Stella-Jones Inc. (TSE:SJ)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as C$67.23 and last traded at C$67.02, with a volume of 83778 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$68.92.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on SJ. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of Stella-Jones from C$95.00 to C$85.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. TD Securities cut their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$103.00 to C$88.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. CIBC decreased their price objective on Stella-Jones from C$99.00 to C$83.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Stella-Jones from C$97.00 to C$81.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$88.00.

Stella-Jones Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$3.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of C$72.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$84.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 93.08, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 6.57.

Stella-Jones Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Stella-Jones’s payout ratio is currently 18.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Stella-Jones

In related news, Director Rhodri Harries purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$70.50 per share, with a total value of C$352,500.00. Also, Director Patrick Kirkham acquired 2,035 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$70.36 per share, for a total transaction of C$143,179.34. Insiders bought 12,785 shares of company stock valued at $896,221 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

About Stella-Jones

Stella-Jones Inc produces and sells lumber and wood products. The company operates in two segments: Pressure-treated wood, which includes utility poles, railway ties, residential lumber, and industrial products; and Logs & Lumber segment comprises of the sales of logs harvested in the course of the company’s procurement process that is determined to be unsuitable for use as utility poles, it also includes the sale of excess lumber to local home-building markets.