Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GVA. 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 target price on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $119.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

GVA stock opened at $114.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13 and a beta of 1.33. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $105.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Granite Construction has a 12-month low of $69.08 and a 12-month high of $115.88.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Granite Construction’s quarterly revenue was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GVA. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the third quarter worth about $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000.

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.