The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Price Target to $50.00

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) had its target price increased by The Goldman Sachs Group from $44.00 to $50.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a sell rating on the construction company’s stock.

Separately, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th.

Granite Construction Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GVA opened at $53.44 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The stock has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 70.32 and a beta of 1.46. Granite Construction has a 1 year low of $33.74 and a 1 year high of $57.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $47.80.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The construction company reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.84 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $933.70 million during the quarter. Granite Construction had a net margin of 1.24% and a return on equity of 14.15%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 4.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 68.42%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Louis E. Caldera sold 1,263 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $63,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,528 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $426,400. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $426,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Granite Construction by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 41,068 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,089,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in Granite Construction by 6.2% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,332 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 369 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Granite Construction by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 23,019 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Granite Construction by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,161 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter.

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.