Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Receives $158.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the six brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $158.50.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Granite Construction from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Granite Construction in a report on Friday, June 26th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Granite Construction from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Granite Construction from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd.

Insider Activity at Granite Construction

In other Granite Construction news, Director Carlos M. Hernandez bought 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $123.99 per share, for a total transaction of $49,596.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $624,041.67. This represents a 8.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.88% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GVA. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 15,267.0% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,048,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,272,280,000 after acquiring an additional 7,995,953 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Granite Construction by 8.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,602,382 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $175,701,000 after acquiring an additional 131,360 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Granite Construction by 52.8% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,397,573 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,541,000 after acquiring an additional 483,080 shares during the last quarter. Hill City Capital LP purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the second quarter worth approximately $175,508,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Granite Construction by 0.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,067,545 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $127,969,000 after buying an additional 4,327 shares in the last quarter.

Granite Construction Stock Up 3.3%

GVA stock opened at $119.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -27.61 and a beta of 1.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $123.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.87. Granite Construction has a 1-year low of $97.26 and a 1-year high of $162.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

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

Granite Construction Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently -12.06%.

About Granite Construction

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) is a civil infrastructure contractor that delivers construction and engineering services for public and private-sector customers. The company’s work includes the development and rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure such as highways, roads, bridges, airports, rail systems and mass-transit facilities.

Granite also provides services for water and wastewater systems, dams, utilities and other complex infrastructure projects. Its capabilities include project development, construction management, design-build delivery, general contracting, excavation, paving and related construction services.