Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $157.25.

GVA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 on the stock. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered Granite Construction from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Stephens initiated coverage on Granite Construction in a research report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $180.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Granite Construction from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday.

Granite Construction Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE GVA opened at $160.44 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Granite Construction has a 52-week low of $89.80 and a 52-week high of $162.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $137.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.90.

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

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.99%.

Insider Transactions at Granite Construction

In related news, Director John Timothy Romer acquired 375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $143.65 per share, with a total value of $53,868.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $402,363.65. The trade was a 15.46% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael G. Tatusko sold 7,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.00, for a total value of $1,057,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 29,787 shares in the company, valued at $4,199,967. This represents a 20.11% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.88% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Granite Construction

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GVA. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Granite Construction by 73.2% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 21,379 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,612,000 after buying an additional 9,038 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Granite Construction in the first quarter valued at about $207,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 168,859 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $12,732,000 after acquiring an additional 29,428 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Granite Construction by 2,423.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 89,882 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,405,000 after acquiring an additional 86,320 shares during the period. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $229,000.

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.