Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Sunday.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Zacks Research lowered Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, December 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Monday, November 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $109.00 price target on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on Granite Construction from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Granite Construction currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of GVA stock opened at $115.78 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37 and a beta of 1.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $105.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.84. Granite Construction has a twelve month low of $69.08 and a twelve month high of $116.74.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In related news, Director Celeste Beeks Mastin sold 7,614 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $105.23, for a total value of $801,221.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,206 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,073,977.38. This trade represents a 42.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the third quarter worth $42,000. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 94.6% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 436 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its position in Granite Construction by 1,417.6% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000.

About Granite Construction

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.