Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Stock Now Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GVA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $139.00 to $119.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company.

Granite Construction Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $120.87 on Wednesday. Granite Construction has a 12-month low of $97.26 and a 12-month high of $162.08. The company has a market capitalization of $5.29 billion, a PE ratio of -28.04 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $119.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $128.36.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Granite Construction will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -12.06%.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In other news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $624,041.67. The trade was a 8.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Hill City Capital LP purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter valued at approximately $175,508,004. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 483,080 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Granite Construction by 0.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,067,545 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $127,969,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the fourth quarter worth $36,405,000. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 39.0% in the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 228,163 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $36,068,000 after acquiring an additional 64,007 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated is a civil infrastructure contractor headquartered in Watsonville, California. Founded in 1922, the company provides construction and infrastructure services to public agencies and private-sector customers across the United States.

Granite’s primary activities include the construction and rehabilitation of highways, roads, bridges, airports, rail systems, and other transportation infrastructure. The company also works on water and wastewater facilities, dams, utility systems, and related heavy-civil projects.