STB trades on Nasdaq:STB and on TSE:STB as well. Student Transportation Inc is a provider of school bus transportation and management services to public and private schools in the North America. The fundamentals looked good, so I took a position today. Browsing the news on STB yielded two recent ratings from Zacks Investment Research. But the two ratings wildly contradict each other. On jan 16, 2017, they downgrade from HOLD to STRONG SELL. Only three weeks later, today, feb 8 2017, they UPGRADE from HOLD (shouldn't that be STRONG-SELL?) to BUY! What are those clowns doing over there? They should make up their mind. Is it a BUY or a STRONG SELL? Two analysts working at the same company not talking to each other, maybe? Bram
It could be a couple of things: 1) New information came along after the strong sell recommendation that made them change their minds 2) They wanted to buy some shares cheap, so they though that giving it a strong sell in hopes of creating a sell off would give them a better entry 3) Not sure. but there must be a third option
I have held this stock for about 8 months, and recently grabbed more at 7.25 , STB.to. Had wonderful news the day after , new contract worth 187 million $. Of course it leaped ahead , and is one of my more successful trades in a dividend stock. Here was the news: Student Transportation wins $187M vehicle contract 2017-02-08 14:29 MT - News Release Mr. Gene Kowalczewski reports STUDENT TRANSPORTATION INC. AWARDED NEW RECORD $187 MILLION CONTRACT Student Transportation Inc. subsidiary Student Transportation of America Inc. (STA) has been awarded a new 10-year contract in Jacksonville, Fla., beginning July 1, 2017, with an existing school district customer, which will effectively double the size of its operations there making it the company's new largest customer. The contract will generate in excess of $16-million per year in revenue with fixed price increases for nine years and also includes live-load fuel reimbursed by the school district. "We are very pleased to have negotiated and been awarded this contract unanimously by the board, which expands our public-private partnership with Duval County School District that began in 2009. This is a very substantial contract addition for our company. It demonstrates our ability to provide our services to a vast group of customers from rural communities to regional and major markets. We have a very good team in place already in Jacksonville, and this is a great opportunity to expand in what we feel is a vibrant, growing community," stated Gene Kowalczewski, senior vice-president, eastern business group. "Our team is already busy getting ready for a summer start-up that will require recruiting, training, staffing, as well as additional facilities. We look forward to providing our exceptional service this fall to our new students and parents within Duval County School District as they become our new largest customer. The new vehicles, added safety measures and on-board technology included are a credit to the school administration for their forward thinking in school transportation." STA will provide Duval County School District with just over 230 brand new air-conditioned school vehicles featuring innovative safety and communications equipment and the latest technological advancements. The vehicles will be equipped with seat belts, three camera digital recording systems, GPS tracking systems, two-way radios, front-bumper crossing arms and the Child Check-Mate system. The vehicles will be SafeStop ready, allowing the district to choose if it wishes to utilize the innovative SafeStop mobile application that connects parents and school officials with vehicles transporting their students. The app includes a secure registration process, real-time map feature that displays the location of the bus, estimated times of arrival at the bus stop, and an exclusive text alert and messaging centre. "The app lets parents know in real time where the bus is, which reduces calls to dispatch or the schools in the case of traffic delays. It also allows school officials and the company to work together to reduce cost of excess mileage and even reduce vehicles," added Mr. Kowalczewski.
