The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday, May 15, edition that Scotia Capital analyst Jonathan Goldman has reaffirmed his "sector outperform" recommendation for Stantec. The Globe's David Leeder writes in the Eye On Equities column that Mr. Goldman gave his share target an $8 trim to $138. Analysts on average target the shares at $160.88. Mr. Goldman says in a note: "End-market demand remains strong in all regions, particularly global where outperformance seems sustainable supported by water and Germany; and margins continue to surprise to the upside. ... More near-term M&A optionality was one of the differentiators in the Stantec story, but with seller expectations remaining elevated and private valuations having not reset like their public counterparts, we see that as lower probability. E&C valuations have fully round-tripped to 2019 levels, wiping out five years of gains, due to AI fears. At this point, we view the buyback as an attractive use of capital for all the E&Cs, and Stantec management said the option is 'becoming increasingly hard to ignore.' ... Stantec shares are trading at 9.9 times EV/EBITDA on our 2027 estimates."