UPDATE 1-Stantec earnings rise 5.3 percent

* Q4 EPS C$0.44 versus C$0.41

* Net revenue up 37.6 percent at C$297 million

* Reuters Estimates Q4 share view C$0.51

TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Quarterly profit at engineering firm Stantec Inc (STN.TO) rose 5.3 percent, the company said on Thursday, on the back of a 37.6 percent jump in net revenue.

Stantec said net income rose to C$20 million ($16.1 million), or 44 Canadian cents a diluted share, in the fourth quarter, from C$19 million, or 41 Canadian cents, in the same period a year before.

Revenue at the Edmonton, Alberta-based firm rose to C$297 million from C$215.9 million.

Analysts had expected, on average, earnings of 51 Canadian cents a share, according to data compiled by Reuters Estimates.

Stantec has been following a strategy of acquisition-fueled growth and, by the end of 2008, it said it met the goal it set 10 years ago to become a 10,000-person firm with annual revenues over C$1 billion.

Stantec said it bought five companies in 2008. At the end of the year, it offered to buy Halifax, Nova Scotia-based Jacques Whitford, an environmental consulting services firm with more than 1,700 employees and 40 offices, mainly in Canada. The acquisition closed in January.

Shares of Stantec were up 89 Canadian cents, or 3.6 percent, at C$25.46 at midday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

($1=$1.24 Canadian) (Reporting by John McCrank; editing by Rob Wilson)