Hold off on buying these growth stocks

Article Excerpt

STANTEC INC. $30.53 (Toronto symbol STN; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (780-917-7288; www.stantec.com; Shares outstanding: 113.9 million; Market cap: $3.5 billion; Dividend yield: 1.5%) sells a range of consulting, project management, design and technology services. Most of its clients operate in the oil and gas, transportation and construction industries. In the three months ended June 30, 2016, acquisitions and a stronger U.S. dollar boosted the company’s revenue to $777.3 million. That’s a 30.9% jump from the $593.9 million in sales a year earlier. However, earnings fell 51.0% in the quarter, to $21.2 million from $43.2 million. The decline came mostly from higher costs related to Stantec’s purchase of MWH Global. With more shares outstanding because of that and other recent acquisitions, per-share earnings fell 56.5%, to $0.20 from $0.46. The company continues to grow by buying smaller related businesses. Its May 2016 purchase of MWH for $795 million U.S. has been the biggest. It gives Stantec a major global presence in the water infrastructure…