Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several research firms recently commented on GVA. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director John Timothy Romer purchased 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,363.65. This trade represents a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have purchased a total of 1,150 shares of company stock worth $156,636 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GVA. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 52.8% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,541,000 after purchasing an additional 483,080 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Granite Construction by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $58,126,000 after buying an additional 361,741 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 87.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after buying an additional 259,477 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

NYSE:GVA opened at $125.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $135.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.12 and a beta of 1.33. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $97.26 and a 1-year high of $162.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The firm had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is -12.06%.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Inc is a publicly traded heavy civil contractor and construction materials producer based in Watsonville, California. The company specializes in delivering large-scale infrastructure projects for government and private clients, focusing on the development, rehabilitation and maintenance of transportation, water resource and industrial facilities. Its turnkey solutions span the full project lifecycle, from preconstruction and design-build to construction management and facilities maintenance.

In its construction segment, Granite undertakes highway and bridge building, airport runway and taxiway construction, marine terminal and port improvements, dam and reservoir projects, transit systems and underground utilities.