Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Rating Increased to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GVA. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE:GVA opened at $121.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 1.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $112.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.21. Granite Construction has a 52 week low of $69.08 and a 52 week high of $124.99.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

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

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ethic Inc. grew its position in Granite Construction by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 2,341 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 7.3% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,642 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $154,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 4.4% in the third quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 2,774 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $304,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 4.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 2,813 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $263,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 1.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,675 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period.

Granite Construction Company Profile

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.