Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Upgraded to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

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 morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on GVA. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of GVA stock opened at $121.49 on Friday. Granite Construction has a fifty-two week low of $69.08 and a fifty-two week high of $124.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $112.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $5.30 billion, a PE ratio of 35.01 and a beta of 1.32.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The construction company reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.56 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.04% and a net margin of 4.31%.Granite Construction’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Granite Construction will post 5.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Granite Construction’s payout ratio is 14.99%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total transaction of $801,221.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Granite Construction by 1,417.6% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 482 shares during the period.

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.