Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the six research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several brokerages have commented on GVA. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Stephens started coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th.

Granite Construction Price Performance

Shares of Granite Construction stock opened at $119.26 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $127.34 and a 200 day moving average of $130.37. Granite Construction has a 52 week low of $97.26 and a 52 week high of $162.08. The company has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a PE ratio of -27.67 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.25 by ($0.09). Granite Construction had a positive return on equity of 27.83% and a negative net margin of 3.32%.The company had revenue of $1.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,801 shares in the company, valued at $402,363.65. This trade represents a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bradley Williams sold 6,734 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $949,494.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $992,781. This represents a 48.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought 1,150 shares of company stock valued at $156,636 over the last 90 days. 0.88% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GVA. Hill City Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Granite Construction in the second quarter worth $175,508,000. Leuthold Group LLC boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 1,591.8% in the 4th quarter. Leuthold Group LLC now owns 45,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,216,000 after purchasing an additional 42,550 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Granite Construction during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,160,000. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,104,000. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new position in Granite Construction in the second quarter worth about $6,424,000.

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.