Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $139.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Stephens initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.00.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $124.41 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.85 and a beta of 1.29. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $89.80 and a 1-year high of $162.08. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $139.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Timothy Romer bought 375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 52.8% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 262.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,699,000 after buying an additional 469,079 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Granite Construction by 254.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,126,000 after buying an additional 361,741 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd raised its position in Granite Construction by 87.5% during the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,971,000 after purchasing an additional 259,477 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.