Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Sunday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GVA. Zacks Research downgraded Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Granite Construction has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.9%

GVA opened at $116.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.66 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $105.53 and its 200-day moving average is $102.03. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $69.08 and a 1-year high of $117.12.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.31% and a return on equity of 24.04%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 14.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total value of $801,221.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at about $301,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,979 shares in the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 34.6% in the second quarter. CenterBook Partners LP now owns 34,210 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 8,793 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 128,293 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $11,997,000 after purchasing an additional 5,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Journey Strategic Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at approximately $286,000.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.