Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy Rating

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Granite Construction in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised Granite Construction from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Granite Construction from $130.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Granite Construction from $109.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $139.50.

Granite Construction Stock Down 1.2%

GVA stock opened at $134.43 on Friday. Granite Construction has a one year low of $69.08 and a one year high of $137.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $124.37 and its 200 day moving average is $113.23. The firm has a market cap of $5.85 billion, a PE ratio of 36.73 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The construction company reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Granite Construction had a net margin of 4.36% and a return on equity of 24.10%. The business had revenue of $1.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.15 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Granite Construction will post 5.49 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Granite Construction

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd boosted its position in Granite Construction by 512.8% during the fourth quarter. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd now owns 239 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the third quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Granite Construction in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000.

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.