Wall Street Zen Downgrades Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) to Hold

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

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy (b)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Granite Construction in a report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.67.

Granite Construction Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $136.84 on Friday. Granite Construction has a 1 year low of $87.72 and a 1 year high of $145.00. The company has a market cap of $5.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.43 and a beta of 1.35. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.35 and its 200 day moving average is $122.35.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.77) by $1.03. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company had revenue of $912.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.01 EPS. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, CEO Kyle T. Larkin sold 26,651 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.12, for a total value of $3,148,016.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 114,881 shares in the company, valued at $13,569,743.72. This represents a 18.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Staci M. Woolsey sold 1,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.84, for a total value of $182,516.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,954 shares in the company, valued at $2,271,447.36. The trade was a 7.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 35,488 shares of company stock worth $4,207,042 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Granite Construction by 73.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after acquiring an additional 9,038 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Granite Construction by 21.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,428 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Granite Construction by 2,423.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd bought a new position in Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $229,000.

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.