Tutor Perini (NYSE:TPC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Tutor Perini (NYSE:TPC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on Tutor Perini from $105.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Tutor Perini from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Tutor Perini from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tutor Perini currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.00.

Tutor Perini Trading Up 5.5%

Shares of NYSE:TPC opened at $94.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.93 and a beta of 2.12. Tutor Perini has a 1-year low of $57.90 and a 1-year high of $102.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $83.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.64.

Tutor Perini (NYSE:TPC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.49. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. Tutor Perini had a net margin of 2.25% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Tutor Perini will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Tutor Perini Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 19th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 19th. This represents a $0.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Tutor Perini’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Ronald Tutor sold 2,310,000 shares of Tutor Perini stock in a transaction on Monday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.59, for a total transaction of $197,712,900.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 701,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,039,416.43. The trade was a 76.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dale Reiss sold 13,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.04, for a total value of $1,233,336.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,203 shares in the company, valued at $2,871,924.12. The trade was a 30.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 15.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tutor Perini

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TPC. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tutor Perini in the 3rd quarter valued at about $335,000. Royce & Associates LP purchased a new stake in shares of Tutor Perini in the third quarter worth approximately $205,000. Diversified Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of Tutor Perini by 5.7% during the third quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 23,986 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Tutor Perini by 40.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 318,428 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,277,000 after purchasing an additional 92,006 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in shares of Tutor Perini by 273.0% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 14,242 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,175,000 after purchasing an additional 10,424 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.01% of the company’s stock.

Tutor Perini Company Profile

Tutor Perini Corporation is a construction company that provides general contracting, construction management, and design-build services. Its work spans civil infrastructure, building construction, and specialty contracting, with projects for public agencies and private-sector clients.

The company’s civil projects include transportation and infrastructure such as highways, bridges, tunnels, and transit systems. Its building work includes facilities for sectors such as healthcare, government, hospitality, and gaming, while its specialty contractors provide services including concrete, electrical, and mechanical construction.

Headquartered in Sylmar, California, Tutor Perini traces its roots to construction businesses founded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.