Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $161.00.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GVA shares. Zacks Research upgraded Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $139.00 price target (down from $141.00) on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In related news, Director John Timothy Romer purchased 375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $143.65 per share, for a total transaction of $53,868.75. Following the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,363.65. This represents a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Bradley Jay Williams sold 6,734 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $992,781. The trade was a 48.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Granite Construction

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Granite Construction by 52.8% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,541,000 after purchasing an additional 483,080 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its position in Granite Construction by 262.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 647,589 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $74,699,000 after purchasing an additional 469,079 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Granite Construction by 254.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 503,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $58,126,000 after acquiring an additional 361,741 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter valued at $36,405,000. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 87.5% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 556,054 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,971,000 after buying an additional 259,477 shares during the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:GVA opened at $125.70 on Friday. Granite Construction has a 1 year low of $89.80 and a 1 year high of $162.08. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.09.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $912.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.26 million. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 24.90% and a net margin of 3.99%.The company’s revenue was up 30.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.01 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 6.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.99%.

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.