Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Given Sell Rating at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed their sell rating on shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has a $139.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $141.00.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $161.00.

Granite Construction Price Performance

GVA opened at $126.08 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of 36.33 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $130.12. Granite Construction has a 1 year low of $89.80 and a 1 year high of $162.08.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a net margin of 3.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The business had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 30.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is 14.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,199,967. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the second quarter valued at $486,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Granite Construction by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,616 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $572,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter worth $405,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Granite Construction by 25.0% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 52,374 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,279,000 after acquiring an additional 10,484 shares during the period. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Granite Construction during the 1st quarter worth about $1,160,000.

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.