Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Stephens

Equities researchers at Stephens started coverage on shares of Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Stephens’ target price suggests a potential upside of 14.77% from the stock’s current price.

GVA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.25.

Granite Construction Trading Up 0.1%

Granite Construction stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $156.83. The stock had a trading volume of 78,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,498. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.67. Granite Construction has a twelve month low of $89.80 and a twelve month high of $157.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.44 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In related news, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total transaction of $1,057,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,199,967. This trade represents a 20.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of Granite Construction stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $949,494.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd increased 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 worth $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Spire Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 30.9% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 381 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Granite Construction in the fourth quarter worth approximately $56,000.

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.