Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Granite Construction stock opened at $134.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.26. Granite Construction has a 12 month low of $69.08 and a 12 month high of $137.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.15 billion. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. Granite Construction’s revenue was up 19.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is presently 14.21%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 41.5% during the third quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 38,809 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 11,385 shares during the period. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,799,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 2nd quarter valued at about $301,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,037,916 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,066,000 after purchasing an additional 7,979 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Granite Construction by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,221,031 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $114,179,000 after purchasing an additional 46,552 shares in the last quarter.

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.