Stantec is positioned to benefit from powerful secular trends driving infrastructure investment globally. Stantec’s expertise in sustainable engineering, climate resilience, and smart cities aligns perfectly with government and private sector priorities for infrastructure modernization. And that’s why the global push for net-zero emissions, aging infrastructure replacement, and digital transformation creates a multi-decade growth opportunity for this firm’s specialized services.
Stantec’s strategic acquisitions and operational excellence are also driving margin expansion and earnings growth that significantly outpaces revenue growth. This means the firm is poised for ongoing double-digit earnings growth while the stock trades at a justified 28.6 times the company’s forward earnings forecast given its growth prospects.
STANTEC INC. (Toronto symbol STN) is a leading seller of consulting, project-delivery, design and technology services.
Stantec tends to use acquisitions to spur its growth. It cuts the risk of using acquisitions to expand by targeting smaller, easy-to-absorb firms. Moreover, sharing administrative expenses, financing and employee benefits among its businesses helps lower overall costs.
For example, the company recently paid an undisclosed amount for Cosgroves. Based in New Zealand, this firm provides a wide range of engineering services, including fire prevention, electrical networks and hydraulic systems.
The purchase strengthens Stantec’s presence in this region—in the first quarter of 2025, Australia (including New Zealand) accounted for 5% of its total revenue.
Another example: The company recently paid an undisclosed amount for firm Ryan Hanley. Based in Ireland, this business specializes in engineering services for water management projects, such as pipelines, flood control and wastewater systems.
Stantec also agreed to acquire Page. Based in Washington D.C., Page provides architectural and engineering services to a wide variety of clients through offices in 20 cities in the U.S. and Mexico.
Those new businesses helped lift Stantec’s revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2025, by 13.3%, to $1.55 billion from $1.37 billion a year earlier. That beat the $1.52 billion consensus forecast. If you exclude acquisitions, revenue increased by 5.9%.
Also, earnings before unusual items jumped 28.9%, to $1.16 a share (or a total of $132.8 million) from $0.90 a share (or $103.0 million). That, too, exceeded its $1.10-a-share consensus estimate.
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In addition to acquiring new businesses, Stantec’s strong reputation continues to help it win new contracts. of a new project that will pull water from an aquifer beneath the Mojave Desert and pump it to markets in Arizona and California. The project should begin operating in 2026. The company has not yet revealed the financial terms of this contract.
Meanwhile, its order backlog as of March 31, 2025, was $7.9 billion, up 12.8% from a year earlier.
The company’s solid balance sheet also cuts your risk. It ended the latest quarter with cash of $254.0 million; its long-term debt of $1.23 billion is a low 7% of its market cap.
Stantec’s Stock Soars to New Highs
Despite the current turmoil over tariffs, the stock is up over 34% since the start of the year—and recently hit a new all-time high of $155.02. Even so, shares still trade at a reasonable 28.6 times the company’s projected 2025 earnings of $5.34 a share.
As well, with the April 2025 payment, Stantec raised your quarterly dividend by 7.1%. Investors now receive $0.225 a share instead of $0.21. The new annual rate of $0.90 yields 0.6%.
Including this latest increase, Stantec’s dividend has grown at an average annual rate of 7.7% in the past five years. The stock holds an Above Average TSI Dividend Sustainability Rating.
Recommendation in Dividend Advisor: Stantec Inc. is a buy.
