Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

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

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

Granite Construction Trading Down 1.0%

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

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,041 shares in the company, valued at $992,781. This trade represents a 48.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd lifted its holdings in Granite Construction by 512.8% in the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 30.9% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Torren Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth $56,000.

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.